With more than half the road accident casualties being pedestrians, it is evident that the city lacks pedestrian facilities. Though the BDA and the BBMP have floated tenders for skywalks, the stringent norms seem to be driving away investors.
While the BDA had proposed 25 skywalks, the BBMP had proposed 56 across the city. Sadly, tenders for the same by both agencies have received almost zero response.
Sources said the tenders are structured in a way that a private investor has to build and maintain the skywalk, paying the agencies rent in return for 20 years. That and the BBMP’s resolution to make city hoarding-free is driving away investors. “For an investor, a skywalk is capital intensive and the returns are spread over a two-decade-long period with uncertainties,” sources said.
P.N. Naik, engineer member, BDA, said they were considering reworking certain clauses of the tender and reissue it again, to attract bidders.
The importance of skywalks for pedestrian safety was underscored following the tragic accident that killed a student at Kempapura Junction in February. Days after the accident, Chief Minister Siddaramaiah had announced in the State Budget that the BDA would build 25 skywalks on the busy Outer Ring Road (ORR). However, no funds were allocated and the project was to be taken up under Public Private Partnership (PPP).
In 2012, Bengaluru City Traffic Police and BBMP’s Traffic Engineering Cell conducted a feasibility study and identified the need for 100 skywalks across the city. The BBMP has already floated tenders seven times. Despite repeated attempts, only 33 have received some response, of which eight have been completed. The tender floated recently for the remaining skywalks has yet again received poor response.
M.A. Saleem, Additional Commissioner of Police (Traffic), said the city needs more skywalks. Concurring, traffic expert M.N. Sreehari said civic agencies have to invest in pedestrian safety. Though civic agencies repeatedly recommend skywalks in the city notorious for its pedestrian-unsafe roads, neither BBMP nor BDA has invested on skywalks.
