Tejasvi Surya meets DK Shivakumar amid tunnel row, discusses Bengaluru traffic
Surya said that the two discussed ideas and proposals to decongest Bengaluru as well as sustainable transport solutions.
BJP MP from Bangalore South Tejasvi Surya on Tuesday met Karnataka deputy chief minister DK Shivakumar amid the Bengaluru tunnel project row.
Surya said the meeting was “cordial” and “meaningful”, adding that the two discussed ideas and proposals to decongest Bengaluru as well as sustainable transport solutions, and the tunnel road project.
“We have discussed in detail how public transport and increasing the public transport footprint in Bengaluru is the only sustainable way for effective commute and mobility in the city,” Surya said, according to ANI.
The BJP MP also requested that the amount of money proposed to be spent on the car-only tunnel project be diverted to mass rapid transport systems, including the metro.
“The purpose of our policy should be to move more people, move more passengers, than moving more cars. The focus should be on moving more people than moving more vehicles,” Surya said, while stressing on public transport as a “sustainable solution”.
Surya said that as per the detailed project report by the Karnataka government, about 1,800 vehicles can travel per hour per direction in the tunnel road. “…But if the same effort is made to build an MRTS or a metro rail project, close to 69,000 people can be transported in the same one hour in that direction,” Surya added.
Shivakumar proposes another meeting with Surya next week
Surya said that Shivakumar has proposed another meeting in the coming week with the Outer Ring Road industries and CEOs, as well as officials.
“He has asked me to be present in that meeting and give the solutions that I presented him,” the Bangalore South MP said, adding that Shivakumar had spent an hour discussing sustainable solutions for Bengaluru with him.
Surya said he was “grateful” for Shivakumar's sincerity in listening to his ideas. “I hope that this bipartisan approach in trying to actually fix Bengaluru's traffic solutions in a sustainable manner will actually yield more results,” Surya said, according to ANI.
Surya puts forward proposals on ORR, BMLTA during meet
Surya, during his meeting with Shivakumar, proposed the “once-in-five-minute or once-in-ten-minute loop buses” with a “dedicated bus lane” between the KR Puram and Silk Board metro stations on Outer Ring Road.
“It will greatly help a lot of people easily reach their offices and bring down the commute time in the ORR,” ANI quoted him as saying.
Surya further requested for the appointment of a chairman to Bengaluru Metropolitan Land Transport Authority (BMLTA). “BMLTA is the most important agency which will coordinate between different transport parastatals in the city and come up with a comprehensive plan,” he said.
Surya further spoke about the need to prioritise Bengaluru's roads and footpaths, and spending on “sustainable projects which will give us long-term solutions and not short-term band-aid fixes.”
