BENGALURU: To make footpaths and conservancy lanes in Malleswaram well connected and improve walkability in the area, Malleswaram Urban Living Lab (MULL) has planned to put sign boards across the lanes to help people navigate the area better and explore historical and cultural places that would be missed otherwise.
Under ‘Walkable Malleswaram’, the group plans to map out all the conservancy lanes and other main areas marking them with numbers or boards mentioning places and critical landmarks of the area -- Janatha Hotel, Planter Coffee Home, Krishna Temple, KC General Hospital, Sankey Tank, MLA High School being a few of them.
The team convened a meeting with the residents of Malleswaram to gain inputs about the cultural and historical stories from the area to understand the layout better and use them while executing the project.
Recreational equipment like stone benches and hand railings will also be put up under the initiative to provide citizens with spaces to sit and spend their leisure time.
The conservancy lanes are expected to be developed as recreational spaces beyond only lanes to walk through other areas, the team said. The initiative was started during the pandemic (in 2021) and has even received funding from the Directorate of Urban Land Transport (DULT) to execute the project.
Suchitra Deep from MULL explained that over time walkability has become poor in the area. The roads are designed for vehicles now and not for people.