As the Shakti scheme is seeing crowded buses in Bengaluru and other parts of the State, civil society groups and experts have now renewed their demand for more buses and bus lanes. This comes ahead of the State Budget Chief Minister Siddaramaiah is all set to present on July 7.
On Sunday, various civil society groups in Bengaluru participated in an open citizens’ assembly — ‘Let’s Move Bengaluru’ to amplify “the public voices in building sustainable cities and in a bid push towards public transport with the expectation to optimise passenger-centric public transport, and communicate the practical solutions to policymakers that can be implemented in the city.”
“Over the past 25 years, the government has heavily invested in the construction of concrete infrastructure, such as flyovers and elevated roads, only encouraging the purchase of more private vehicles. These only provide temporary relief and do not address the root cause of traffic congestion. Moreover, these projects often come at the cost of environmental degradation, displacement of people, and loss of green spaces,” argued Ashish Verma, converner, IISc Sustainable Transportation Lab, batting for augmenting public transport especially buses.
