Bridge opened amidst wrangling

Bridge opened amidst wrangling

Staff Reporter

Ananth Kumar turns up late, organisers go ahead with the programme

— Photo: Bhagya Prakash K.

RELIEF FOR ROAD USERS: The Malleswaram grade separator which was thrown open to traffic on Sampige Road in Bangalore on Monday.

BANGALORE: Mired in controversy since its inception, the opening of a part of the Malleswaram grade separator was once again centre of wrangling, but of the political kind, on Monday.

Having invited Congress MLA from Malleswaram M.R. Seetharam and Bangalore South MP H.N. Ananth Kumar, the Bruhat Bangalore Mahanagara Palike (BBMP) had covered the two ends of the protest spectrum — Mr. Seetharam had supported the construction of the separator while Mr. Ananth Kumar had led protests against it.

At the “dedication ceremony”, Dilip Rau, BBMP Administrator, in the presence of Mr. Seetharam, cut the ribbon and formally opened the loop for vehicles coming from Majestic and moving towards Yeshwanthpur. Arriving late at the venue, Mr. Ananth Kumar found that everyone assembled at the event were dispersing.

Upset, he lashed out at Mr. Seetharam and the BBMP terming it as an “insult to democracy”. He said that the least the BBMP officials could have done was to wait for him and added that “this is all part of politics”. When asked for his reaction, Mr. Seetharam said they had waited for 15 minutes to start the programme. “We began the event only after consulting Mr. Ananth Kumar’s supporters at the venue who said that the MP will not be able to attend the function,” he said.

Meanwhile, a BBMP release said the grade separator would be completely opened in February next year and that it would allow for uninterrupted flow of traffic on Sampige Road.