Commuters in Majestic, which has developed into a busy multi-modal mobility hub, can now look forward to safe pedestrian pathways in the area. All roads around the Kempegowda bus terminal-metro interchange will soon be developed under TenderSURE.
The Bruhat Bengaluru Mahanagara Palike (BBMP) has finalised a package of six roads in Majestic-Gandhinagar and around K.R. Market, totalling a length of 10.61 km, to be developed under TenderSURE at a cost of ₹130 crore. The tender is yet to be approved by the State Cabinet. “We have selected roads around the Majestic mobility hub and K.R. Market to improve pedestrian facilities,” said BBMP Commissioner N. Manjunath Prasad.
Gubbi Thotadappa Road and Dhanvanthri Road, which circle the Kempegowda bus terminal-interchange, have been included in the third phase of six roads to be developed under TenderSURE. Almost all the major roads in Gandhinagar — Subedar Chatram Road, W.H. Hanumanthappa Road and other smaller roads till Central College — too have been included.
All the roads will have footpaths at least 3 m wide. Gubbi Thotadappa Road and Dhanvanthri Road will have footpaths as wide of 7 m.
“Wide footpaths are the need of the hour. Footfall in the area has risen exponentially since the opening of the Namma Metro Green Line. But the BBMP needs to work with the BMTC and Namma Metro to integrate skywalks and other pedestrian facilities before the roads are developed,” said urban commute expert Sanjeev V. Dyamannanavar.
However, traffic expert Prof. M.N. Srihari said the Majestic-Gandhinagar area is the heart of the Central Business District (CBD) and is among the most traffic-congested areas in the city, apart from having high pedestrian footfall. “The carriageway has reduced significantly, raising fears of a pile-up of vehicles, especially buses,” he said.
A network of smaller roads around K.R. Market — Bhashyam Road, Gundupanth Road, Sethurao Road and Poorna Venkatrao Road — totalling a length of 2 km will also be developed under the package.
38.29% cost escalation
The lowest bid now selected for the package of six roads to be developed under TenderSURE is 38.29% more than the tender estimate. For a total length of 10.61 km, the tender estimate pegged the cost at ₹94 crore (8.85 crore per km). However, the lowest bidder — Amrutha Construction Pvt. Ltd., which has been selected — has bid at ₹130 crore (12.25 crore/km). The tender is yet to be approved by the State Cabinet. The second bidder — IVRCL Pvt. Ltd. — had quoted a sum 47% more than the estimate, BBMP officials said.
The road development package has a deadline of two years from the date of issuance of work order. A senior civic official said the Cabinet is expected to clear the tender this week. The authorities are preparing to take up work by the first week of August.
Hawkers demand special zones
The package of six TenderSURE roads in Majestic-Gandhinagar and K.R. Market is expected to face some resistance from street hawkers as all the roads selected are busy hawking zones. TenderSURE roads have traditionally displaced hawkers from footpaths. A senior official of the BBMP conceded that one of the major challenges in the area is to ensure that pavements are not encroached upon.
This has not gone down well with the hawkers in the area. Rangaswamy C.E., president of Gandhinagara Beedi Vyapari Sanghatane, said Gandhinagar and K.R. Market areas have been traditional hawker zones for many decades now and hawkers were a part of the area’s culture. “It is unfair to evict hawkers from the area. We will not allow any eviction and will protest tooth and nail. Let the BBMP earmark hawker zones on the footpaths of these TenderSURE roads for us. It should be part of the design,” he said.
