Bellandur residents petition minister on Change.org

 Over 6,000 residents have petitioned Bengaluru Development Minister K J George on Change.org, seeking urgent repair of roads and laying of new roads in the vicinity of ORR, Sarjapur Road and the surrounding areas. 

Drawing the minister’s attention to the “rapidly deteriorating” state of Bellandur, the petition observed: “All these roads have not been widened or improved since Bellandur and Devarabisanahalli flyovers were built more than five years ago. Since then, the traffic has increased manifold. Sarjapur road widening is a project pending since last 10 years.”

ORR companies, the petition pointed out, contributed about Rs 100 crore property tax last year to the State government. Yet, development works worth only about Rs five crore has been taken up over the last few years. “As one of the highest taxpayer constituencies in Bengaluru, we are furious with this poor report card. We should hold our elected officials such as the corporator and the MLA responsible. We deserve to have better quality of life and better infrastructure in the near future.”

Besides fixing potholes and laying of new roads, the petitioners also wanted proper footpaths and drainages, scientific planning of junctions, U-turns, bus bays and bus stops; removal of all encroachments on major roads and service road of ORR and a committee to improve the ORR-Sarjapur Road corridor. The panel should involve citizens, corporates and government agencies.

In the long term, the petition sought the government to release the Detailed Project Report (DPR) for Sarjapur road widening and collaborate with the panel with detailed timelines. Another key demand was to identify alternate routes, widen narrow routes to reduce load on arterial roads and lay new roads as per the Comprehensive Development Plan (CDP 2015). Commuter Rail, BRTS, Metro, exclusive cycle lanes and skywalks were part of the long-term projects in the demand list.

Protests at tech parks today

Urging the authorities to address infrastructure and traffic problems of the Outer Ring Road (ORR), employees of various tech parks on the ORR in association with #orrsarjapurrising and #saveecospace will stage a protest on Friday. Demonstrations will be held between noon and 1 pm at the main gate of RMZ Ecospace, Prestige Tech Park, Cessna Tech Park by the employees of the respective tech parks.

The grievances

 Traffic snarls on Outer Ring Road, Sarjapura Road and surrounding areas are a daily affair. There is no place to walk, let alone drive. Drains overflow with sewage. This has affected mobility.

 All residents rich and poor in this area are suffering due to rise in pollution, overcrowding and traffic congestion. Children are frequently stuck in traffic jams and return home tired.  Cases of asthma and allergic cough are quite common.