Basavangudi residents oppose road widening

Basavangudi residents oppose road widening
New Indian Express

BANGALORE: Residents of Basavangudi are opposing the proposal to widen Police Station Road, saying this would not only mean uprooting several flowering trees, but also making the road unsafe for pedestrians.

In letters addressed to Basavangudi MLA K Chandrashekar, area corporator K Satyanarayana, Bangalore South MP Ananth Kumar and the BMP Commissioner, the residents said the road was being used by walkers, including senior citizens, women and children, who visit Krishna Rao Park and Bugle Rock Park which are at the two ends of the road.

Widening the road would deprive them of walking space and lead to over-speeding, making the road unsafe. Moreover, it was a residential lane and not an arterial road.

With hardly any traffic on the road, there is no need to widen the road, they said. The road is barely 200 metres long and traffic, if any, is limited to only a few hours in the evening, during shopping time, they said.

“Most shops on DVG Road and Gandhi Bazaar have not provided parking in their basements. The road is being widened to allow parking of vehicles,” said M S Pramod, a resident, who says this will cause a lot of inconvenience.

MLA Chandrashekar and corporator Satyanarayana, who attended a meeting called by residents on Tuesday morning, had assured the residents that the roads would be widened only by five feet.

In a signed letter, they have also assured citizens that a garden will be maintained on the footpath, existing trees will not be touched, and any alteration will be carried out only in consultation with them.

“Residents are unanimous in their opposition to the widening. It is a citizens’ initiative and as soon as they learnt about the proposal, they volunteered to support any movement against the proposal,” Maya Chandra, another resident said.

MLA Chandrashekar denied there was any move to widen the road.

“It is not true that the road is being widened. The road is barely 200 metres long and there is no need to widen it. The footpaths are only being beautified,” he claimed.