BDA plans steel overpass on Seshadri Road

BDA plans steel overpass on Seshadri Road

The Hindu

The authority to become a paperless office by April next year

# 100 e-pragati kiosks to come up
# Streetlights on Ring Road to be operated through remote
# Data to be kept safe in the systems

BANGALORE: To ensure that traffic does not pile up at various points after the Anand Rao Circle flyover, the Bangalore Development Authority (BDA) is planning a steel overpass from the Fire and Emergency Services Station on Seshadri Road (where the ramp ends) to the Reserve Bank of India (RBI) on Nrupthunga Road.

Although the BDA had planned an underpass near the Maharani College to ensure smooth traffic flow all along till K.R. Circle, it is now thinking of building an overpass, BDA Commissioner M.N. Vidyashankar said here on Wednesday.

Mr. Vidyashankar was addressing members of the Bangalore Management Association. He said: "Technical studies for the steel flyover are being done and a feasibility report is being prepared. We will go ahead with it if it is feasible."

Pointing out that a single flyover is not a solution for traffic problems, Mr. Vidyashankar said it was realised that vehicles that alight from the Anand Rao Circle flyover will get jammed at the Maharani College junction and then again at the K.R. Circle. "A string of connecting overpasses and linking bridges have to be built to ensure smooth flow," he said.

Paperless office

The Commissioner, who reasserted his faith in technology, said the BDA will become a paperless office from April 2006. "This is our flagship project and we aim at making everything paperless. You all should visit the BDA after April 2006 to see the drastic change," he said.

Explaining that networking of all BDA offices in the city is over, he said enough care is being taken to ensure that data and information stored in computers is safe.

"We are making alternative measures to ensure that the systems are not down during a power breakdown," he said.

Over a 100 24-hour automated "e-pragati" kiosks will come up by December 2006 and the on-line complaint management system will be ready by January 2006, he said.

Based on feedback from over 600 customers, who belong to the lower strata of society, the BDA will be completely automated by March 2006.

"Through the e-pragati kiosks, you can lodge a complaint, deposit a written petition and get an acknowledgement and check on the status of the petition. This is something which will be very beneficial to customers, who otherwise have to come to the BDA office for everything,"

Mr. Vidyashankar said. Over 3,800 streetlights on the Outer Ring Road running up to 66 km will be managed and maintained from the BDA head office using remote switches, he added.