Pedestrians risk limb and life trying to cross the busy junction while discussions continue on who should build the skywalk.
The Bangalore Metro Rail Corporation Limited (BMRCL) will no longer be involved in the construction of the circular skywalk at the Banashankari junction. The project has been completely handed over to the Bruhat Bengluru Mahanagara Palike (BBMP). However, no work of any kind has started on it.
The previous revenue minister R. Ashoka had said last year that the skywalk would cost around Rs 50 crore. of which Bangalore Metro Rail Corporation Limited (BMRCL) agreed to bear 40 percent of the total cost while Bruhat Bengaluru Mahanagara Palike (BBMP) agreed to take on the rest. However, that is no longer the case.
Srivas Rajagopalan, assistant public relation officer (PRO) at BMRCL said “It is correct that BMRCL agreed to share 40 percent of the cost, but later full supervision of project including the cost of construction was given to BBMP. For any updates people should contact BBMP. ”
However, BBMP officials said they have no information on the project. Prakash, assistant PRO at BBMP said “I have no information about the commencement of the project. No tenders have been put out yet nor any further directions given regarding building of the skywalk.”
Pedestrians who travel on the Banashankari junction have to face incessant traffic.
(Video- Pedestrians trying to cross the road in between high moving traffic, elderly running to cross the road in the due time.)
Banashankari junction is used by almost 75,000 people every day, it hosts both Banashankari metro station and Banashankari bus station. The buses are aligned on an already crowded sidewalk, while people try to get onto the bus in chaos.
Mohan who lives near the Banashankari temple said, “Old people like me have to be very careful while crossing the road, if we miss, we are gone. To cross the road safely from one side to other it takes around 10 minutes. To get onto a bus is even more difficult, it usually takes two to three tries to get onto the bus just a single time. An overbridge may solve this problem.”
A circular skywalk was proposed by the previous Karnataka government in 2019 between Banashankari metro and Banashankari BMTC bus stop, and was put into the state budget last year.
Around the same time, BMRCL put out a notification sharing the details of the proposed skywalk at Banashankari, connecting Banashankari metro Station-Banashankari Temple-Banashankari TTMC.
Tejasvi Surya Member of Parliament (MP) from Bangalore south also raised this issue on X tweet. He said that he has asked D. K. Shivakumar, deputy chief minister of Karnataka, to start the construction of the skywalk as well as other proposed projects.
Reshma, a traffic expert and a PhD scholar who works in Street Matrix, a consultancy firm situated in Bangalore said the bridge is much awaited and promised by the government for a long time.
She added, “The junction is overcrowded by the people at any given point. It is very chaotic to cross the junction or to get onto the bus. The vendors have their carts on the sidewalks leaving the pedestrians with no choice other than to walk on the road and endanger themselves. Even the elders have to run in order to cross the road or get onto the bus. An overbridge will solve most of these problems.”
