Outer Ring Road woes: Civic groups, businesses push for action plan

Representatives of companies along the ORR and civic groups demanded a milestone-based development plan with regular progress review meetings with Deputy Chief Minister D K Shivakumar. This meeting was organised by the Outer Ring Road Companies Association (ORRCA) on Saturday.

Companies involved in manufacturing urged authorities to reconsider banning HTVs on the ORR due to the adverse impact on their businesses, while residents of Varthur, Panathur, and nearby areas called for a dedicated task force for basic infrastructure improvements.

Among the six action items presented by the ORRCA, the fast-tracked progress of the ORR metro network with metro feeder services for first and last-mile connectivity and greater investment in shared mobility were highlighted. They also requested a zero-tolerance approach to illegal parking and encroachment on the main carriageway and service roads.

BBMP action

In response to these demands, BBMP Commissioner Tushar Giri Nath said that the civic body’s focus is on immediately fixing the service roads and clearing illegal encroachments and parking on them.

Shivakumar noted that he has directed both BBMP officials and the traffic police to work on fixing potholes by November. He has also directed officials to take strict action against rajakaluve encroachments.

The DCM also appealed to the companies with their offices along the ORR to redirect their CSR funding towards rural areas and villages to improve their primary education in a bid to reduce the influx of people into the city. “We want to see that the inflow to the city is stopped. Soon, we will give you a mandate that you must invest in primary education of the best quality at the village level,” he said.

Earlier in the day, he inspected a stretch of a road spanning 5.6 km long and 45 meters wide being constructed from the Outer Ring Road to the proposed Peripheral Ring Road through Bhoganahalli, Gunjur, and Varthur. The construction of about 1.6 km remains, which includes acquiring forest land and building a railway overbridge.

Joint bus services

Uber India representatives floated a verbal proposal to government representatives present about launching a pilot project to provide joint bus services on fixed routes and schedules to these tech parks along the ORR to help employees make the shift to public transport. They are open to negotiating a partnership with the BMTC or launching 10 private buses after obtaining the necessary permits from the Transport Department.