Under pressure, karnataka chief minister offers to scrap bengaluru steel bridge

Mangalore Today News Network

Bengaluru, Mar 2 2017:  Amid allegations of corruption, Karnataka Chief Minister Siddaramaiah has reportedly offered to drop the plan for a steel bridge to ease traffic on the road connecting Bengaluru to its international airport.

 

The construction of the 6.7 Km steel bridge, estimated to cost Rs. 1,800 crore, has been stopped by the National Green Tribunal amid protests. It would have required the chopping of over 800 trees.

The Congress government has been under pressure after a huge controversy over an alleged diary found during tax raids on the Chief Minister’s parliamentary secretary K Govindraju last year, which allegedly mentions 65 crores against steel bridge. The opposition has alleged that this was bribe paid for the project.

State BJP chief BS Yeddyurappa has alleged that the diary contained information about money paid to top Congress leaders, including Sonia Gandhi, Rahul Gandhi, Digvijaya Singh and party treasurer Motilal Vohra. The pages of the diary, he said, conveyed such information through abbreviated initials.

Mr Yeddyurappa -- who had to quit as Chief Minister over corruption allegations -- has alleged that Congress leaders in the state were sending money to the party. Some of that money, he said, came from kickbacks for sanctioning the bridge project, which has been halted by the green court.