BENGALURU: Just opposite the Nagasandra Metro station on the Tumakuru Highway, a five-foot-tall barricade with spikes on top of it, greets pedestrians ready to brave oncoming traffic to jaywalk across the road. These new brown barricades have been erected opposite the station. The intention being to deter public on the other side from dashing across the highway.
Positioned along with the existing two-foot high yellow barricades, localites are unsure if the Bangalore Metro Rail Corporation Limited (BMRCL) or the BBMP has erected them. But what some are sure about is that nothing would deter them from taking a short cut to reach the station across. One of the small gaps in the barricade has been manually enlarged a few days ago such that one person can squeeze through it. Now, many have begun to use it.
Apart from the Nagasandra Station, Jalahalli and Dasarahalli Metro stations comprise this Reach 3B of the Namma Metro line, inaugurated on May 1, 2015. At the time of launch, BMRCL assured underpasses for pedestrians. Jalahalli was left out of its plans as the then Rajarajeshwari Nagar MLA wanted to construct a subway on his own there.
An initial delay in calling tenders was due to technical issues in acquiring 43.63 square-metres of land in Nagasandra and 141 square-metres in Dasarahalli from the National Highway Authority of India. However, since then a series of tenders have been called but no progress has been made. Asked about it, BMRCL general manager of Finance and Taxation, UA Vasanth Rao, said, “There was no response to our earlier tenders in this connection. We have called for another round of tenders a week ago.”
In the meantime, pedestrians continue their dangerous acrobatics. A Foot Over Bridge (FOB) exists 400 metres to the right of the station, but most commuters are not inclined to walk the distance. This reporter caught up with a few people braving traffic to cross over. T Tejas Gowda, a 22-year-old accounts collection executive in a private firm, told City Express, “I know it is wrong. But someone asked me to come over urgently to collect the amount due to my company. So I decided to rush through.”
H Thippeswamy, a senior citizen, said, “This is such a dangerous road. Due to my age, I walk some distance and try to cross the road at the end. You cannot expect youngsters to do the same. The government needs to do something here on a priority.I have seen a few fall down. If anyone suffers a serious injury, there is no one around to help as everyone is in a hurry on this road.”