Archives for 2019

The decision of the then State government to shelve the proposed steel flyover to Kempegowda International Airport (KIA) following an uproar was counted as one of the biggest victories of a citizens’ movement. However, the proposal appears to be getting a new lease of life this year.

Deputy Chief Minister and Bengaluru Development Minister G. Parameshwara, on Tuesday, announced that the government is considering reviving the project on ‘popular demand’.

The announcement comes in the backdrop of opposition to yet another project — the 102-km-long network of elevated corridors.

“There is a serious problem of traffic congestion on the international airport road. Asteel flyover between Chalukya Circle and Esteem Mall is the need of the hour. There is a demand from the public to revive the project and ease traffic on the corridor. If a steel bridge is built, commuters can travel to KIA in 20 minutes. The previous Congress government had dropped the project due to political opposition. But we have decided to revive the project on popular demand,” Mr. Parameshwara told mediapersons.

The announcement has taken civic activists who led the #SteelFlyoverBeda campaign, which eventually saw the government scrapping the ₹2,000 crore project in March 2017, by surprise.

Srinivas Alavilli of Citizens for Bengaluru (CfB), an offshoot of the #SteelFlyoverBeda campaign, which is now leading a campaign against elevated corridors, found the Deputy CM citing ‘popular demand’ as ‘strange’ because the government had earlier scrapped the project owing to public opposition.

CfB had taken up campaigns for public transport alternatives to solve congestion in the city. They are #ChukkuBukkuBeku demanding a suburban train network and #BusBhagyaBeku, demanding augmenting of the BMTC bus fleet.

“But in the last two years, the government has not bought a single bus and is going at a snail’s pace on the suburban train network. They have frustrated citizens by not implementing public transport alternatives, and have again proposed flyovers for private transport as a solution – elevated corridors and steel flyover,” he said.

CfB is in talks with several other citizens’ groups and will put up a united front against any mega infrastructure for private transport, he said.

In 2016, the Bangalore Development Authority (BDA) had claimed that 299 people had responded to public consultations over the project and most of them had supported it. However, a civic campaign mobilised nearly 42,000 people to vote against the project in a mock referendum.

Urban expert Ashwin Mahesh said that the steel flyover had failed the test of both public opinion and expert opinion in 2016 and was deservedly scrapped. “The flyover will not solve the congestion on the international airport road and will add no value,” he said.

Elevated corridors, steel flyover to be part of RMP

In an attempt to address criticism that elevated corridors and the steel flyover were not part of the Draft Revised Master Plan – 2031, both projects are set to be included in the new draft RMP-2031, which is expected to be put out for public consultation soon.

“Activists always cry foul that these large infrastructure projects are implemented out of the blue with scant regard for the RMP. But we will include these projects in the RMP this time,” an Urban Development Department official said.

But this move too has drawn criticism. “Preparing an RMP is an organic process where you first diagnose a problem, evaluate all possible solutions and then hit on the most optimal solution. Merely including infrastructure projects that have not evolved out of a large mobility study makes no sense,” said a civic activist.

“The State Environment Impact Assessment Authority (SEIAA) is conducting an Environment Impact Assessment (EIA) for the elevated corridor project. The report is expected to be out in two months,” said M. Ganesh, MD, Karnataka Road Development Corporation Ltd. (KRDCL). The EIA would be put out for public consultation.

BJP cautions government

Leader of opposition in the legislative assembly B.S. Yeddyurappa cautioned against the government steamrolling its way through the project. “Chief Minister H.D. Kumaraswamy opposed the project when he was in the opposition. Now the deputy chief minister has suddenly revived the project. We are not opposed to development, but the project needs to be discussed threadbare. There have been allegations of corruption and kickbacks,” he said.

Water Resources Minister D.K. Shivakumar shot back saying the government cannot be ‘blackmailed’ over development by the opposition and they would implement the project in the interest of the people. “During the previous government, Siddaramaiah respected their views and dropped the project. If I were to be in his place, I wouldn’t have done so. The opposition sees red in every development project, but that can’t deter us. The allegations of corruption are being made using a diary allegedly found during an IT raid on MLC Govindaraj. The diary is fake and was planted,” he said. “If we do more work, we will have more enemies who will find faults. But we need to do our duty to the people,” he said.

PTI

The Congress has barely spoken of it but JD(S) supremo H D Deve Gowda wants seat-sharing between coalition partners to be finalised by the end of January.

The Congress has barely spoken of it but JD(S) supremo H D Deve Gowda wants seat-sharing between coalition partners to be finalised by the end of January. By raising the issue for the second time in less than a week, Gowda has put Congress under pressure to act. He said that going by the same 1/3rds ratio of the coalition pact, JD(S) could get around 10-11 seats and that there are no demands for specific seats.

“The Congress had given us unconditional support to form the government. We have a 1/3rd ratio agreement and this should apply to LS seat-sharing too. We will decide on it this month,” Gowda told media in New Delhi on Tuesday.  

This comes after senior Congress leader  Mallikarjun Kharge said that there were no talks yet on the
issue and all discussions will take place at the strategic committee meeting.

The statement comes after Congress’ tallest leader from Karnataka — Mallikarjun Kharge — said that there were no talks yet on the issue and all discussions will take place at the strategic committee meeting.
The first time Gowda broached the subject, he sought 12 seats for the JD(S) out of 28 seats in total. On Tuesday however, he scaled it down to 10-11 seats.

“There is no need to fight over it. We will cooperate. There will be clarity on seat-sharing once we discuss with state leaders,” he added. Sources from the Congress suggest that six-seven is the most the party can offer its coalition partner — a number far less than Gowda hopes for. “Knowing Deve Gowda, nothing he says is without reason.

While 12 is an unrealistic number to seek for the JD(S), if it is his way to hard bargaining with the Congress, it comes as no surprise,” said A Narayana, Political Analyst and commentator when Gowda had first spoken abou t seat-sharing.

Backing former chief minister Siddaramaiah, Gowda accused the BJP of nursing hopes of toppling the coalition government. Asserting that Siddaramaiah was right in pointing out to the possibilities of horse-trading, Gowda asserted that the government in Karnataka was in no danger. “Siddaramaiah had been chief minister for full five years.

He has spoken about BJP’s attempts of bribing legislators because he had solid information. He has spoken responsibly,” Gowda said. He also mocked Prime Minister Narendra Modi for getting his facts wrong over the farm loan waiver. Reiterating numbers from the Chief Minister’s Office, Gowda said that 2.2 lakh farmers will benefit from the farm loan waiver and PM Modi had incorrectly claimed that only 800 had benefitted.

Agencies

Nasheman News : Finance Minister Arun Jaitley on Wednesday launched a no-holds-barred attack on Congress President Rahul Gandhi and his family and said he understood only the arithmetic of money and not issues related to national security.

Intervening in a debate on the controversial Rafale fighter jet deal in the Lok Sabha, he said it was a tragedy that the nation’s “grand old party is today headed by a gentleman who doesn’t even understand what a combat aircraft is”.

Jaitley said the Congress and Gandhi were resorting to the simple argument of “Rs 500 (crore) versus Rs 1,600 (crore)” — an apparent reference to the difference in the price of aircraft in contracts signed by the UPA government and the current government.

“There is a reason for that. Some people and families in India only understand the arithmetic of money… They don’t understand national security but only ‘paisa’,” he said.

Without naming the Gandhi family, he asked why was it that one family’s name came up in the Bofor’s case, the National Herald case and the AugustaWestland case.

“Had it been one case, I would have given them the benefit of doubt. But three is a bit too much.”

Referring to a dialogue in the famous James Bond movies, the Finance Minister said: “If it happens once, it’s happenstance; if it happens twice, it’s a coincidence; but if it happens thrice, then it’s a conspiracy.

“And today conspirators who have played with India’s national security have the audacity to raise questions on a defence deal.”

Dismissing Rahul Gandhi’s allegations of irregularities in the Rafale deal, Jaitley said he “took unprecedented liberties with truth” while making those charges.

“Some people have a natural dislike for truth. From first to last — every word spoken (by Gandhi) in the last few months has been utterly false.

“It is a big tragedy for the country’s most grand old party which was once led by remarkable leaders that it is today being led by a gentleman who doesn’t even have the basic understanding of what a combat aircraft is.”

Seven persons sustained injuries after a hydrogen gas cylinder, which was used to fill air in balloons, exploded near Lourde Matha church in Horapete in Tumakuru on Tuesday.

The police said Abdul Khader, a resident of Tumakuru, was selling balloons near the church. The cylinder exploded while he was filling air in balloons in the early hours of Tuesday. People had gathered to celebrate the new year. Many people were buying balloons from Abdul Khader when the cylinder exploded, the police said.

The injured are Abdul Khader, 35, Sudeep, 13, Maria Das, 35, Anthony Francis, 45, Kiran Babu, 32, Ravi, 25, and Thomas, 29.

Maria Das and Kiran Babu, who have been seriously injured, were shifted to NIMHANS in Bengaluru while the others are receiving treatment in Tumakuru district government hospital, the police said.

All the injured are residents of Tumakuru.

A case has been registered in Tumakuru Town police station.

The activities of 15 rebel Congress MLAs, headed by Ramesh Jarkiholi, have again put the coalition leadership in a dilemma as the political drama seems to be heading towards a climax, with BJP MLA Balachandra Jarkiholi joining his brother in New Delhi today.

Balachandra is said to be woring closely with the dissidents in Delhi. According to sources, top BJP leaders have held talks with the Jarkiholis, but are yet to come to a consensus on some issues before giving their final nod to the group.

Despite claims by Congress leaders in Bengaluru that no legislators are involved in the dissident activities, sources confirmed that at least 14 MLAs have assured Ramesh to join him in quitting the Congress.

Commenting on BJP state president B S Yeddyurappa’s denial to have had talks with Ramesh, an associate of the latter was wondering why Yeddyurappa rushed to New Delhi. He added that what Congress leader Siddaramaiah had said about the BJP offering party MLAs Rs 25- Rs 30 crore was true, by asserting that a bonus was being given to the legislators.

A few days after stating that the coalition government will collapse within 24 hours, BJP MLA Umesh Katti said, “Siddaramaiah should admit that he is planning to bring down the coalition,’’ added Katti.

Agencis

Nasheman News : The Manipur government tightened security in the state ahead of Prime Minister Narendra Modi’s visit on Friday.

Director General of Police L.M. Khaute has instructed police and para-military forces to be on duty round the clock. 

Twenty-five men from the Special Protection Group (SPG) are already in Manipur coordinating the security measures by the state and central forces.

Police said that cordon and search operations were being conducted in trouble-prone areas. Some insurgents including those on bail had been detained. Some guns and explosives were also seized during the police operations.

Meanwhile, Corcom, the apex body of six banned insurgent groups in Manipur, announced on Wednesday that the Prime Minister’s visit will be boycotted. 

It said that a “public curfew” shall be remain in force from 1 a.m. on Friday till Modi leaves the state.

The state government has cancelled all leave for Friday except on medical grounds.

Reports suggest that most government employees are likely, as in the past, to stay in hotels or houses of relatives and friends to go to office since there shall be no public transport on Friday.