Amid outcry, BMLTA to scrutinise Sankey flyover project

The controversial Sankey Road flyover project will be the first infrastructure work to be presented before the Bengaluru Metropolitan Land Transport Authority (BMLTA), which was notified three weeks ago.

The BBMP will submit documents, including the Detailed Project Report (DPR), to the authority’s secretariat office on Wednesday.

Citizens have opposed the widening of the road from Bhashyam Circle to Malleswaram 18th Cross and the construction of the flyover, estimated to cost over Rs 49 crore.

They say the project threatens the biodiversity of the area and won’t ease traffic congestion.

Under pressure for not following the “due process”, the BBMP decided to get the BMLTA’s approval before starting the flyover work. Under the BMLTA Act, the authority is empowered to review and approve all mobility projects that are prepared in accordance with the Comprehensive Mobility Plan (CMP).

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Sources in the BBMP, however, said the civic body would not seek the approval of the BMLTA for widening the Sankey Tank Road because the high court had already cleared the project after due approvals in the Revised Master Plan of 2015, and from the Directorate of Urban Land Transport (DULT).

The BMLTA has not endorsed the flyover.

“We are aware of the opposition to the project. Groups of residents have raised the issue of vehicles clogging the magic box near Cauvery Theatre. We will submit the documents to the BMLTA for a detailed review,” a senior BBMP official said.

Chief Minister Basavaraj Bommai, who heads the BMLTA, had promised to chair the first meeting of the authority “very soon”. The DULT, which will function as the secretariat office of the BMLTA, is currently framing rules to operationalise the entity.

The authority will have independent experts and representation from 17 departments but the government is yet to form the committee.