Tunnel Road only solution to ease Bengaluru’s traffic woes: Energy Minister KJ George
Bengaluru: Karnataka Energy Minister KJ George has defended the proposal for a tunnel road in Hebbal, calling it a necessary solution to the area's daily traffic congestion. He urged citizens to support the project, recalling the opposition faced by the now-scrapped steel flyover plan.
George, who previously served as Bengaluru's Development Minister, backed the tunnel road idea proposed by Deputy Chief Minister DK Shivakumar, describing it as a practical solution to the traffic woes in Hebbal and surrounding areas, as reported by The New Indian Express on Saturday.
He pointed out that several infrastructure projects faced initial resistance but eventually proved beneficial. "The demolition of the Jayadeva flyover was opposed at first, but today people are benefiting from the Metro line. The double-decker flyover at Silk Board Junction also faced criticism initially but is now appreciated," he said.
George also addressed criticisms regarding traffic jams at Shivananda flyover and Nehru Circle, arguing that people continue to travel on congested roads while opposing potential solutions like the tunnel road. He emphasised that the tunnel road remains the only viable option to address traffic problems at Hebbal and nearby areas.
However, some government officials have expressed doubts about the tunnel road. “Tunnel road is not the solution. If people are getting stranded on flyovers, they will be stranded inside a tunnel soon,” government sources told TNIE.
“Instead, we have proposed that large commercial complexes and buildings with 2000-3000 employees ensure proper connectivity to the nearest Metro station. They should be proper feeder buses as well. Upcoming and existing resident and commercial complexes should ensure that dwellers have Metro connectivity or feeder buses. They must also push for expanding the Metro network,” the sources added.
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Screenwriter Salim Khan on ventilator support and stable, say doctors
Mumbai (PTI): Veteran screenwriter Salim Khan suffered a brain haemorrhage which has been tackled, is on ventilator support as a safeguard and stable, doctors treating him said on Wednesday, a day after he was admitted to the Lilavati Hospital here.
The 90-year-old, one half of the celebrated Salim-Javed duo which scripted films such as "Sholay", "Deewar" and "Don" with Javed Akhtar, is in the ICU and recovery might take some time given his age.
"His blood pressure was high for which we treated him and we had to put him on a ventilator because we wanted to do certain investigations. Now the ventilator was put as a safeguard so that his situation doesn't get worse. So it is not that he is critical," Dr Jalil Parkar told reporters.
"We did the investigations that were required and today we have done a small procedure on him, I will not go into the details. The procedure done is called DSA (digital subtraction angiography). The procedure has been accomplished, he is fine and stable and shifted back to ICU. By tomorrow, we hope to get him off the ventilator. All in all, he is doing quite well," he added.
Asked whether he suffered a brain haemorrhage, the doctor said, "Unko thoda haemorrhage hua tha, which we’ve tackled. No surgery is required.
As concern over Khan's health mounted, his children, including superstar Salman Khan and Arbaaz Khan, daughter Alvira, and sons-in-law Atul Agnihotri and Aayush Sharma, have been seen outside the hospital along with other well-wishers. His long-time partner Akhtar was also seen coming out of the hospital.
Khan, a household name in the 70s and 80s, turned 90 on November 24 last year. It was the day Dharmendra, the star of many of his films, including "Sholay", "Seeta aur Geeta" and "Yaadon Ki Baraat", passed away.
Hailing from an affluent family in Indore, Khan arrived in Mumbai in his 20s with dreams of stardom. He was good looking and confident he would make a mark in the industry as an actor. But that did not happen. And then, after struggling for close to a decade and getting confined to small roles in films, he changed lanes.
He worked as an assistant to Abrar Alvi and soon met Akhtar to form one of Hindi cinema's most formidable writing partnerships. They worked together on two dozen movies with most of them achieving blockbuster status.
Other than "Sholay", "Deewar" and "Don", Khan and Akhtar also penned "Trishul", "Zanjeer", "Seeta Aur Geeta", "Haathi Mere Saathi", "Yaadon Ki Baarat" and "Mr India".
