More than half of the 33 skywalks that the Bruhat Bangalore Mahanagara Palike (BBMP) plans to erect under the Public Private Partnership (PPP) model have been termed “unfeasible” by the Directorate of Urban Land Transport (DULT).
After experts criticised the locations chosen for skywalks, the DULT undertook a survey of all the locations for traffic patterns, available pedestrian facilities and road inventory like road width and footpath width.
The skywalks are part of the BBMP’s ambitious project to build 100 such structures in the city. While tenders had been invited for all, investors have come forward for 33 projects. Six of the 33 have been under construction for the last four months.
Completely funded by private investors, skywalks will be managed on Build—Own—Operate—Transfer (BOOT) basis by investors after paying ground rent to the BBMP. In turn, investors earn revenue by renting out space for advertisements.
The DULT has found that 18 of the skywalks were unfeasible. In many cases, the DULT has criticised the locations chosen for the skywalks. They are being planned at places with narrow footpath, which block the path for pedestrians completely, or in narrow streets. The DULT found that skywalks have even been planned on streets where traffic density is less, which could result in underutilisation of the skywalks.
It has also been found that that at many locations there were sufficient facilities like pelican signals, pedestrian signals and subways. DULT Commissioner V. Manjula, however, refused to comment, citing that it was an internal matter. Traffic expert M.N. Srihari said, none of the existing skywalks were utilised optimally. He said skywalks are seen only as a source of revenue and not as a facility.
Civic activist Sanjay Dyammannavar said no survey was undertaken to identify locations for skywalks. Meanwhile, a senior official with the Traffic Engineering Cell, BBMP, said that they had issued work orders for only six skywalks.
He said the report was being considered and the BBMP would soon convene a meeting with DULT officials.
