BENGALURU: It takes autorickshaw driver Ramesh close to an hour to cross just 3km on the Madiwala-Jayadeva stretch. This is during peak hours. To make matters worse, three more signals have been added on the route.
Unfortunately, driving here is likely to get worse for Ramesh, who regularly ferries passengers in the area. A flyover which has been a time saver for him for the last 13 years is now being pulled down to make way for another multi-layered rail-cum-road project.
The story of Bengaluru is the story of lack of planning, said Srinivas Alavilli, co-founder of Citizens for Bengaluru. He believes this razing down and rebuilding is just another fallout of how the city has been functioning over the past few years. Citizens have been at the receiving end of the lack of inter-departmental coordination. “The BDA had built the Jayadeva flyover and BMRCL is now razing it down in less than 13 years. CM BS Yediyurappa, in his previous term gave the city a Metro Planning Committee which has provisions for field experts. However, this body, which is supposed be involved in planning, is yet to function,” he said.
There is a cardiac hospital in the vicinity of the construction area. So far, BMRCL and the local traffic police have been making provisions for vehicles to arrive at the hospital, he said. Alavilli, however, is of the opinion that the present plan is better than the one proposed earlier, which would have cut across the hospital. He hopes that the construction is completed as per the schedule.
Locals, however, are not convinced with the deadline BMRCL has given itself — 2022. “So far, Jayadeva flyover is the route taken by many busses shuttling from Whitefield, Sarjapur Road and Electronics City. With its demolition, there is bound to be absolute congestion,” Poonam, a commuter said.
Senior citizens, who have seen the city evolve, are of the opinion, “The Metro should have tailored their project, keeping the existing design of the city in mind. This is the first known case in perhaps the entire country where a fully functional flyover is being razed,” a BDA engineer said.
Defending the project, BMRCL chief project manager BL Yashwanth Chavan said the location was planned to reduce cost and minimize inconvenience. “The 1km stretch near Jayadeva Hospital is only part of the 5km rail-road design that extends from RV Road to Silk Road.” The Jayadeva Hospital station will be an interchange station.
