Students float online petition for skywalk at Marathahalli

 Students of New Horizon College of Engineering (NHCE) on Outer Ring Road in Marathahalli have demanded a skywalk at the location to avoid the hazards of speeding vehicles.

The students have floated an online petition to draw the attention of government officials to the pathetic state of the junction.

Rohit Mulay, a student who took the initiative to put up the petition on change.org, with the support of his college mates and management, said a skywalk is essential in front of the college as the junction is proving dangerous for pedestrians.

“There is always a risk of someone getting hit by fast-moving vehicles, and it is not at all safe to cross the road in front of the college where there are no traffic signal lights,” he said.

“We have to cross the roads to reach the bus stops located on both the ends of the ORR (outer ring road). There is a zebra crossing on one side of the road but it is located away from the bus stop and hence, of no use to students.”

Seema Ibrahim, a first-year BE student, said, “I need to cross the road in front of NHCE to catch buses going towards Whitefield, where I reside. It is a nightmare crossing the road, and between 5 pm and 6 pm, the traffic is at its peak.”

She said it takes 15-20 minutes to reach the other end of the road, near the Marathahalli bridge, where there are traffic cops to monitor the traffic. “But here, there are no cops,” she said.

Sridhar R, a software professional at a nearby IT firm, said the motorists do not follow regulations and drive rashly, but deploying traffic cops would solve the problem only temporarily. 

The petition has garnered more than 700 supporters in two months, and has been forwarded to Bengaluru Development Minister K J George, the traffic police, and BBMP Commissioner Manjunatha Prasad.

K T Nagaraj, BBMP superintendent engineer (major roads), said the Palike has not received any complaint so far on the issue as the BDA has handed over the ORRs to the civic agency. He said the BDA had earlier given permission to Embassy Group, a private company, to construct a skywalk. “If there is no progress from their end, we will build one. We will follow it up with the firm immediately,” he said.

However, the Embassy group said in an email that they have received only general approval from the BDA, and the location has not been finalised yet.

“Once the location is finalised, our consultants will work on a design following which it will be sent for approval to BDA,” a company representative said.