Bus riders demand more skywalks along ORR

Frustrations on account of traffic density on the Outer Ring Road (ORR) is not something unique to the motorists hopelessly stuck in the slow crawl.

Users of public transport to reach the IT clusters along the ORR have an equally torrid time due to the heavy traffic. Truth be told, barely a few prefer the public transit option as they struggle crossing the road to get to the other side. Even going as far as the service road is no easy task.

"We spend more than 10 minutes to get to the other side, and it is risky," Jayesh, a techie, told DH. "The zooming vehicles at the six-lane stretch make it virtually impossible for us to cross. Even the service lanes pose a danger."

After several years of struggle, the ORR got a skywalk at RMZ Eco Space; a busy walkway considering the fact that it is the only one in the 15-kilometre stretch from Sarjapur Road to KR Puram.

"There are several IT companies, commercial establishments, schools, colleges and residential layouts along the road that badly need skywalks," Jayesh said.

Jayesh and a few other commuters had submitted a petition on the issue to former chief minister Siddaramaiah, former Bengaluru Development Minister K J George, mayor, local corporators, chief secretary, BBMP commissioner and other officials. Nearly 3,000 people had signed the petition.

The BBMP commissioner emailed a reply to the petition, saying it has been forwarded to the joint commissioner for the Mahadevapura zone for further action. Two months on, there is barely any sign that the officials would act on the demand. When the petition was sent again, the commuters received the same response.

Attempts by DH to reach BBMP officials for a response went fruitless.