Techies to hit the road in protest

Techies to hit the road in protest
New Indian Express

BANGALORE: After the Indian Institute of Management (IIM) students, it could be the turn of techies to hit the roads.

Fed up by regular traffic congestion and poor condition of link roads, a large number of software engineers working at companies located in the Electronics City are planning to block traffic on Hosur Road.

Traffic coming from most parts of the city gets choked before and after the Central Silk Board flyover.

This is further worsened by the bad condition of link roads connecting Bangalore-Hosur Highway leading to the Electronics City.

The volume of traffic on the road is too high as the highway is the only road connecting Bangalore to Hosur and further to Chennai, Pondicherry, Salem, Coimbatore, Madurai and the whole of south Kerala.

This apart, construction work on flyovers taken up by the Bangalore Development Authority (BDA) at Dairy Circle, Jayadeva Hospital junction and on Airport Road have added to the problem.

‘‘The association members are meeting on Thursday to discuss the subject. Blocking traffic to draw the government’s attention is an option,’’ president of Electronic Industries Association H. Prakash Rao said. ‘‘A final decision will be taken at the meeting,’’ he added.

Over 30,000 techies work in a number of software firms, including Infosys, located at Electronics City and on the Hosur Road. And the number is likely to increase further in the near future.

Apparently, the association members are not happy with Union Road Transport and Highways Minister T.R. Baalu’s recent announcement of constructing an elevated nine-km structure to link the city from the IT-hub directly.

Since completion of the proposed project will take time and would also affect traffic during the construction period, techies want the government to take alternative steps.

‘‘We have given a number of suggestions and memoranda, but nothing has happened,’’ Rao said. Prohibiting heavy vehicles during peak hours and improving link roads and Attibele and Surjapur Roads are their current demands.