D K Shivakumar, Deputy Chief Minister Of Karnataka has set a new goal to solve the civic and traffic issues affecting Bengaluru’s IT corridor Outer Ring Road after a meeting with tech companies, civic officials, and other stakeholders.
source: Indian Express
He stated that a 100-day deadline will be set to address the traffic and civic issues in Bengaluru, while delivering a keynote speech at one of the tech parks in ORR as part of a follow-up meeting with the Outer Ring Road Companies Association (ORRCA), officials from Bruhat Bengaluru Mahanagara Palike (BBMP), Bengaluru Water Supply and Sewerage Board (BWSSB), Bengaluru Metro Rail Corporation Limited (BMRCL), among other civic agencies. The ORR is surrounded by over 25 tech parks, 10 lakh IT employees, and has a turnover of almost 35% of tax revenue for the BBMP.
Shivakumar assured that mobility and civic issues grappling the IT corridor will be dealt with in a coordinated and collective approach by the civic agencies. “We understand the value IT corridor adds to Bengaluru and we understand the share of tax revenue that the Outer Ring Road stretch generates for the corporation. The ORR stretch doesn’t deserve basic infrastructure but the best infrastructure. Officials of the Bengaluru city police, BMRCL, and the BBMP have given a commitment to solve and reduce the problems of the IT corridor in another 100 days,” he said.
source: Durga Petals
During the meeting, the Outer Ring Road Companies Association (ORRCA) brought out six major problems in the area that called for attention from the government: upgradation and maintenance of 22 arterial road networks, the upgradation of service roads, potholes, footpaths, and bus stops, the crackdown on illegal parking, encroachment, and restriction on heavy transport vehicles, traffic management, and enhanced surveillance, fast-tracking of ORR metro and improving first and last mile connectivity and, finally, boosting connectivity through public transport and shared mobility solutions.
Heavy vehicles will be banned
In order to decrease the number of illegal parking in the ORR, The traffic police department has decided to reintroduce towing vehicles. Bengaluru Police Commissioner B Dayananda also stated that heavy vehicles will be banned on the ORR between 7 a.m. and 10 p.m., depending on the vehicular count in tech parks on the given day. However, concerns also prevail with heavy vehicles critical to tech parks and the metro works which cannot be banned. “As a long-term solution, it is important to adopt shared mobility solutions and public transport in order to reduce the vehicle load on the roads,” said Dayanand.
source: Money Control
Road infrastructure will be improved.
BBMP Chief Commissioner Tushar Girinath stated that the corporation will be working to fix potholes, clear footpath encroachments, and improve service roads. “Emphasis will be laid on improving service roads until the metro works on the mainway are completed. A lot of traffic is diverted to service roads, given the metro works that are underway on the main road. We will also prioritize improving the road infrastructure on high-density corridors which have a greater impact on the public. With a five-year investment framework, we intend to address the infrastructure gaps in a holistic manner,” the officer said.
Prefer public transport
Professor Rajeev Gowda, Vice Chairman of the State Institute For the Transformation of Karnataka (SITK), requested the IT employees who commute daily to use public transport and signup for the ‘personal2public’ campaign. The campaign is aimed at encouraging citizens of Bengaluru to switch to public transport at least twice a week in order to reduce traffic congestion and pollution. Subsequently, Anjum Parvez, MD of the Bengaluru Metro Rail Corporation Limited (BMRCL) promised that the missing metro link between KR Puram and Baiayappanahalli will be constructed soon, which will be a major factor in decongesting traffic on the IT corridor.
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