Skywalk, a relief for students and parents

Built at a cost of Rs 60 lakh, skywalk is almost complete

This despite the traffic police department deputing a couple of constables, and the Bruhat Bangalore Mahanagara Palike (BBMP) spending crores of rupees on subways to make things easier for children like her.

The new skywalk, which is almost complete, is being eagerly awaited by hundreds of school children to put an end to their daily ordeal of crossing the road. Built at a cost of Rs 60 lakh, the skywalk is being given finishing touches.

Parents who spoke to Deccan Herald said the opening of the skywalk would ease a lot of tension. Says Khatheeja M, a mother of two children, “Even though my husband and I are working, we pick up our children everyday as we do not want to let them cross the road on their own.

If we send our children in school vans and autorickshaws, there is no guarantee someone will help them across the road,” she said. However, when the skywalk comes up, I will send them in a school bus, she added.

A school official said children would be spared of ordeal once the skywalk is opened. “However, we have not been intimated about when it will be opened. There has been no communication from either the traffic police or the BBMP,” the official added.

What is puzzling is why the Palike did not take up the skywalk project earlier. Claiming to assist school children, the Palike has already constructed two subways at a cost of Rs three crore, which however, has proved to be of no help to children.

The two subways are rarely used and have turned into a filthy cesspool.

The skywalk is being built on a Built-Operate-Transfer basis by a private agency. After completing the construction of the skywalk as per the sanctioned plan, the concessionaire will be allowed to put up advertisements on it.

However, before it is declared open to the public, a stability certificate will have to be issued by the Indian Institute of Science along with the completion certificate from the BBMP engineers. “Only then will the skywalk be opened for the public,” said a BBMP official.