BENGALURU: It has been months since the deadline elapsed for completing a connecting bridge by the Bangalore Metro Rail Corporation Limited (BMRCL) between the two sides of the Benniganahalli (earlier Jyothipura) Metro station on Old Madras Road. The existing BBMP skywalk below which sees massive traffic bottlenecks was to be dismantled after its completion but everything has gotten delayed.
Work on the Metro bridge is just picking up pace.
When TNIE visited the spot, a traffic cop was struggling to clear the chock-o-block traffic there. Despite the widening of the road sometime ago, the landing of the BBMP skywalk and its stairs is located in the middle of the road thereby eating up 5 metres of the road.
The traffic situation is completely chaotic on one side with the bus bay nearby where buses are parked erratically. "Until this bridge is dismantled at the earliest, there will not be much relief here. It was supposed to be done earlier and I do not know what has happened," the cop said.
A reliable source told TNIE that with the focus and manpower completely diverted towards the launch of the KR Puram to Whitefield line for the last few months, other infrastructure work of BMRCL like this bridge has come to a standstill.
"Now that the new line has gotten commissioned, work at the bridge has picked up pace. The flooring is being laid now. The parapet and finishing works are still pending. We are hoping to complete it within two months and open it up for the public even before the K R Puram to Baiyappanahalli stretch starts operations," he said.
The BMRCL's bridge is being readied over 150 metres away from the existing BBMP skywalk. "It will have escalators too and this is an incentive for the public to use it rather than dash across the road. The public can use the bridge either to cross over the road without entering the Metro station or use it to access the station," he said.
Among the motorists who suffer when riding through this stretch is Rithesh Swamy, a software professional who rides a four-wheeler from Hebbal towards Baiyappanahalli. "It is a nightmare out here. During morning hours, it is so scary as the place is full of pedestrians, mainly passengers alighting or boarding buses towards Kolar and Whitefield. People just dart across and I fear for the life of pedestrians, particularly senior citizens and I have to ride very carefully and slowly."
A legal and HR professional at an MNC who is a resident of Vijayanagar uses the road to commute to his office at Whitefield daily. "I have been using this road since 2008 and it is a major traffic bottleneck. Due to the chaos here, I ride a two-wheeler to cross the space rather than a four-wheeler," he said.