JOIN USThe BBMP is ready with the design of a proposed skywalk to be constructed at the busy Esteem Mall junction on Ballari Road within in two or three months.
About two weeks ago, a rashly driven tanker ploughed into a group pedestrians crossing the road, killing two and injuring a dozen people. Hundreds of residents and students protested the lack of a skywalk to cross Ballari Road (NH-7).
BBMP Byatarayanapura division executive engineer Srinivas Reddy told Deccan Herald on Monday that the Palike would provide technical support for the project. “Columbia Asia Hospital will construct the skywalk. The road-widening work will be done by the National Highways Authority of India (NHAI),” he said.
Reddy said the Palike would take up work such as asphalting and fixing electrical lines on portions of Ballari Road that do not belong to NHAI.
“We will take up asphalting work from Esteem Mall junction to Kodigehalli signal and we will get approval for it from BBMP Commissioner Lakshminarayana on Wednesday. The total cost of the project is estimated at Rs 2.3 crore and the skywalk is expected to be completed in two to three months,” he added.
The Palike officials held a meeting with Columbia Asia Hospital representatives and NHIA officials wherein they discussed the project. During the meeting, the design of the skywalk prepared by the BBMP officers from the Major Roads Division was handed over to Columbia Asia Hospital representatives.
Commissioner M Lakshminarayana said the civic agency was ready to support the project in every way possible.
The BBMP had demolished a portion of the Esteem Mall’s wall on March 8 for widening the road to construct a skywalk.
When Deccan Herald contacted the project manager of NHAI on the issue, he was not forthcoming.