NGO urges 'Walkable Bengaluru Mission', says TenderSURE model can transform city in 10 years

Bengaluru: Bengaluru-based Jana Urban Space (JUSP) Foundation has written to Deputy Chief Minister DK Shivakumar, urging the government to launch a 'Walkable Bengaluru Mission' and shift the focus from patching potholes to building better quality roads.

The appeal follows an impact assessment of TenderSURE roads, which showed improvements in walkability, safety, women’s mobility, maintenance, and flood reduction.

The proposed mission calls for prioritising arterial and sub-arterial roads, with phased plans for local and collector roads. It also suggests transforming the 60-km Outer Ring Road into a people-oriented corridor, integrating upcoming metro lines with TenderSURE principles, notifying TenderSURE guidelines for all future road projects and creating a dedicated technical team within Bengaluru Smart Infrastructure Limited (B.SMILE) to drive implementation.

"Bengaluru’s 150 km of TenderSURE roads cover less than 2% of the city’s 13,000-km road network. The city is infamous for traffic jams, high pedestrian fatalities, and worsening air quality. With an annual outlay of Rs 25,000 crore, Bengaluru could build 1,500 km of TenderSURE roads every year — making a 100% walkable city possible within a decade,” said Nithya Ramesh, Director (Planning and Design), JUSP.

Between 2012 and 2017, JUSP piloted the TenderSURE model in the city’s Central Business District, overseeing 10 km of road redevelopment.

Across the country, over 500 km of TenderSURE roads are either completed or under construction in 34 cities across seven states, including Karnataka, Uttar Pradesh, Odisha, Meghalaya, Assam, Tamil Nadu and Telangana.

"The principal issue with roads in India is that we do not have model guidelines and design tenders for contractors to build proper footpaths and roads. The TenderSURE model has shown results. The government can adopt it, regardless of the name,” said Srikanth Viswanathan, Executive Director, JUSP and CEO, Janaagraha.