BENGALURU: The decision to drop the
controversial steel bridge project
on Thursday was marked with drama as a majority of the
legislators and officials
were caught unawares.
“The decision to scrap the steel bridge was triggered by
political compulsions
, we had no clue that the government was axing it,“ said a senior IAS officer. The announcement was made during a meeting of legislators convened to discuss
Bengaluru's water crisis
. Surprisingly, the steel bridge was raised by
Congress legislators
.
Shantinagar MLA N A Haris said: “We are tired of explaining the steel bridge to the people. The government should make its stand clear before more damage is caused to the party.“ Fellow legislators Muniratna and S T Somashekar suggested the government drop it as it was generating negative publicity for the government.“Some people go to the green bench, some hug trees. Nobody is interested in understanding how the project will solve Bengaluru's traffic problem. What is the point in continuing such a project?“ Muniratna asked.
KPCC working president Dinesh Gundu Rao said: “The steel bridge is being portrayed as a monument of Congress corruption by the opposition.“
According to sources, the CM was disturbed by BJP's allegation that kickbacks from the project were received by his family. Reacting to the CM's statement, senior ministers advised him to shelve the project. George was told to summon an emergency meeting to discuss Bengaluru's water crisis and what followed was a scripted scene where Congressmen advised the government to drop the project.
However, agriculture minister Krishna Byregowda warned that the scrapping of the project would hurt Bengaluru in the long run. He said: “The major problem Bengaluru faces pertains to traffic. Industries minister R V Deshpande was tired of answering traffic-related queries during the global investors meet. Bengaluru's future is dependent on solving traffic problems and Karnataka's growth is dependent on Bengaluru's development.“