The city’s civic body has finally called tenders for the long-pending Sankey Tank bund road-widening project in Malleswaram, West Bengaluru, a project first proposed in 2011. The narrow stretch of road between Bhashyam Circle and Malleswaram 18th Cross, a critical road linking Malleswaram with Sadashivanagar, will be widened by 15 metres at an estimated cost of ₹60 crore, according to civic body officials.
Though the Bruhat Bengaluru Mahanagara Palike (BBMP) has tried to begin work on the project multiple times since 2011, it had to backtrack owing to vociferous protests by environmental activists and residents, who are opposed to the felling of nearly 30 trees for the project. However, Higher Education Minister Dr. C.N. Ashwath Narayan, also the local MLA, has been championing the project to ease the traffic bottleneck in the area.
Traffic congestion
“The traffic congestion on this stretch is heavy, hence we have taken up this project. On December 14, we floated the tender to widen the Sankey Tank bund road. Karnataka government has also approved the project,” a senior BBMP official said. In May this year, Chief Commissioner Tushar Giri Nath had inspected the site and announced that the State government had cleared the project and tenders would be called soon.
“Roads are widened considering the increase in traffic volume. The BBMP will widen the road uniformly from Yeshwantpur Circle to Malleswaram 18th Cross and then further widen the road till Bhashyam Circle along the Sankey Tankbund,” official added.
Motorists taking this stretch complain about traffic snarls. “The stretch always sees heavy traffic especially during peak hours. The traffic congestion is more than 500 meters up to Bashyam Circle on the stretch. The vehicles coming from Yeswanthpur side get stuck in traffic jams,” said Murali Kumar, a motorist. Another motorist, Prashanth Rao, said not just during peak hours, there is a traffic congestion even during non-peak hours and welcomed the widening work being taken up.
Opposition to tree cutting
Meanwhile, concerned about the tree cutting to widening of the road, a few local residents are opposing the project proposed by Dr. Ashwath Narayan a decade ago.
In 2011, the residents protested the tree cutting for the project and continued to oppose the project for years. “Many residents have been opposing the project for damaging the trees on the stretch. If they (BBMP) cut trees to make space for the road it will not help decongest the traffic. The road is full of green cover, the civic body should not damage any trees,” Prakash, a resident, said.
