The New Indian Express 12.08.2010
Katta snubs mayor on road widening
BANGALORE: BBMP mayor S K Natraj may have halted road widening work in Bangalore owing to public outcry, but the thinking of the state government in this regard seems to be entirely different.BWSSB Minister Katta Subramanya Naidu, who is also in charge of Bangalore North, strongly defended widening of roads and said it was “inevitable” in a city like Bangalore.
“For a city like Bangalore, which is growing by leaps and bounds and where commuting is a problem, road widening is a must, whether one likes it or not,” Naidu said on Wednesday.
“Widening of roads, construction of signal-free roads, flyovers and overbridges are today’s necessities.
The day is not far away when those opposing road widening now would demand it,” Naidu said, giving a clear hint that the BBMP’s decision to stop road widening holds no water.
The Mayor, on August 6, had announced the stoppage of widening of 216 roads in Bangalore till a scientific survey was done on the necessity of such an exercise.
He had also promised that widening of roads would be taken up wherever it was necessary.
When Naidu’s attention was drawn towards the growing opposition from citizens to road widening work, he said everybody had to cooperate.
“There is no option. I request citizens of Bangalore, intellectuals, media and other organisations to think it over seriously,’’ he added.
