Forum wants debate on Tagore Circle underpass

Forum wants debate on Tagore Circle underpass

Special Correspondent
BANGALORE: A citizens forum, which has been opposing the construction of an underpass at the Tagore Circle on the K.R. Road in Basavanagudi area, has urged the Government to depute the Minister or Minsters concerned with the infrastructure development in the city for responding to public queries on the ongoing project if the Bruhat Bangalore Mahanagara Palike has taken up the project upon its instructions.

The office-bearers of the forum, including the former Chairman of the Legislative Council B. K. Chandrashekhar and the traffic study expert M.N. Srihari, told presspersons here on Sunday that the forum wanted the public to draw the Government’s attention towards the apathy of all the ongoing works undertaken by the BBMP across the city in the absence of public representatives.

Questioning the BBMP’s propriety and public utility in undertaking the Tagore Circle underpass project with indifference to the public comfort and view, he said the BBMP should have informed and consulted the public before launching the project.

Prof. Srihari said that the decision on the underpass was neither based on the pressing need nor fact. According to a BBMP report, the Passenger Car Unit (PCU) in the Tagore Circle was 11,358 an hour in 2006. On the contrary, a survey conducted by an eligible public group in September 2009 had revealed that the PCU at the circle was 3,182 per hour.