Mysuru, 16 July

State Social Welfare Minister HC Mahadevappa said that the Sigandur bridge was the Congress government’s project. The bridge was inaugurated by Union Minister Nitin Gadkari, even though the ruling dispensation boycotted the event.

Mahadevappa said that the project was prepared during his tenure in 2013, when he was the State PWD minister.                   

“We had prepared a detailed plan to build the bridge in 2013,” he said.  

He said the then speaker Kagodu Thimmappa also requested him to construct the bridge.

However, the project was transferred to the Union government, due to the rising cost, he said. The project was sanctioned after a request from former BJP chief minister BS Yediyurappa.

He said that the Union government bypassed protocol by not consulting or inviting Chief Minister SIddaramaiah for the inauguration of the Rs 473 crore bridge, which is set to become the second largest cable bridge in the country.