The BBMP and the Bengaluru Smart City Limited have been going back and forth on who should be repairing it.
Bangalore: The escalator at the entrance to the K R Market subway near the bus stand, has been not working since a year. The Bengaluru Smart City Limited (BenSCL) and Bruhat Bengaluru Mahanagara Palike (BBMP) have been pointing fingers at each other saying the other is responsible for the maintenance of the escalator.
The BBMP officials said that when the BenSCL handed over the escalator to them, it was not in working condition. Balkrishan, Assistant Executive Engineer of BBMP, said, “I have sent two letters to BenSCL but am yet to receive any response. In Sept. 2022, the renovation of K R Market subway happened, BenSCL added the escalator and since that day it is not working.”
Balkrishan agreed that it was the BBMP’s responsibility to station a guard and clean the subway and said that they were doing that. But, he added, “we are asking BenSCL to repair it.”
The BenSCL however, insists that the escalator was working when it was handed over. An official said, “We handed it over to the BBMP in a working condition, now the BBMP has to maintain it.”
Vinaya, a digital marketing trainer, and a daily commuter in the area said, “It will be easy if the escalator works because right now I am in a rush and I don’t want to take the stairs. The government should maintain this as they are investing so much and also you can carry heavy goods with the help of escalator.”
Mubil Taj a commuter, agreed with him. “Carrying a lot of shopping over the staircase is difficult, and I usually take this subway to go to K R Market bus stand. The government should repair this.”
An old lady walking on the subway said, “I can’t walk properly and taking the staircase is painful for my legs, the government should repair it. Whenever I ask the guard regarding the escalator he says ‘It will work’.”
Vikram Bhat, principal architect and urban planner at urbansynthesis , said that the inactive escalator will get rusted. Replacement of machinery will cost more so it would be better for the escalator to work regularly. K R Market is a market place so people will carry heavy goods. An escalator in such a case is better than a staircase.
In 2006, BBMP started the K R Market Subway project. It was inaugurated in 2013. Then in 2021, BenSCL took charge of renovating this subway because the condition of the subway was getting worse. BenSCL developed it and added facilities like public toilets, 32 CCTV cameras, six entry and exit points and an escalator.
