Demand for skywalks up, but BBMP allocation shrinks

BENGALURU: The warning bells at the Hebbal-Kempapura junction are getting shriller. On Thursday, a private bus collided with a mini-truck at the junction, and then hit the median, holding up traffic on the stretch for over one hour. The third accident at the spot in a span of 43 days happened even as not a stone has been moved on the ground by the authorities to build a skywalk.
The skywalk proposal awaits the final approval of terms of reference proposed by the Columbia Asia hospital that has offered to bear the Rs 2.6-crore construction cost. Sources in the National Highway Authority of India (NHAI) say they are unable to expedite the project because the dispute with Esteem mall over taking possession of the latter’s land is pending in court.
However, the land on the other side of the road is also yet to be acquired from the Army for the construction. Students of colleges in the vicinity, residents and eminent citizens say NHAI and BBMP should consider alternative land arrangements and the government should press for vacation of the stay order. The demand for skywalk is not restricted to Hebbal Kempapura junction.
That Bengaluru has only 12 skywalks, as revealed through a RTI query by Janaagraha, reflects how risky crossing roads in the city is.
In 2014, Ballari Road alone witnessed 160 pedestrian deaths, up from 90 in 2013. Old Madras Road near KR Puram junction has seen over 65 pedestrian deaths in 2014 and 60 in 2013, while the Tumkur Road stretch witnessed 81 pedestrian deaths in 2014 and 101 in 2013. The Outer Ring road, Banswadi road, Hosur road, Bannerghatta road and Mysuru road are some stretches that witness higher number of pedestrian fatalities, traffic police records reveal.
Despite this situation, BBMP’s budgetary allocation for skywalks and subways has only shrunk over the past two years. The BBMP allocated Rs12 crore for skywalks in 2013-14, but spent less than Rs80 lakh. In 2014-15, the corporation estimated an expenditure of Rs7.1 crore but the revised budget slashed it down to Rs60 lakh. The current budget has set aside Rs 7 crore but the final allocation may not even cross Rs 1 crore.
The civic body, meanwhile, is increasingly moving towards public-private partnership for constructing skywalks and subways. Experts say that is equally welcome, because it reduces the wait for the project. But the advertising rights issues is something that goes for a debate and takes more time to finalize a project of this nature.
Expertspeak It is appalling that our lives are at stake while crossing roads. Civic institutions, including BBMP, are not held accountable for achieving specific and measurable citizen-centric targets. There must be a senior officer of BBMP or traffic police, who is held accountable for metrics such as zero pedestrian deaths, existence of pedestrian crossings every 300-500 metres, zero downtime of pedestrian signals, 100% compliance with pedestrian signals, existence of safe and usable skywalks and subways. These metrics must be measured every quarter and there should be strong disincentives for non-achievement. Managing performance by data, and swift action to punish or reward individual officers based on performance is the solution, where neither funds nor staff are lacking.
Srikanth Viswanathan, Janaagraha