BMP plans ‘green’ ride to Commercial Street

BMP plans ‘green’ ride to Commercial Street
Deccan Herald

Imagine a Commercial Street free of congestion and chaos. If the Bangalore Mahanagara Palike (BMP) has its way, eco-friendly buses will ferry shoppers from the nearest parking lot to the busy commercial hub. The case in point is the parking facility planned in the Ulsoor lake bund area, which is facing opposition from citizens.

Imagine a Commercial Street free of congestion and chaos. If the Bangalore Mahanagara Palike (BMP) has its way, eco-friendly buses will ferry shoppers from the nearest parking lot to the busy commercial hub. The case in point is the parking facility planned in the Ulsoor lake bund area, which is facing opposition from citizens.

While citizens fear that the parking lot might pollute the only lung space in the area, BMP officials argue that they are only streamlining the existing traffic around the lake.

“The lake bund area is clean and it is the only lung space for morning walkers and joggers. If the parking lot comes up, carbon monoxide and other poisonous pollutants from vehicle exhausts will ruin the garden,” contended members of the Ulsoor Lake Citizens’ Forum, who will convene a meeting with BMP officials at 9 am on Wednesday on the Ulsoor lake lawns.

Meanwhile, BMP officials are hopeful that the project will help streamline vehicular traffic around the lake, decongest the nearby commercial hubs and augment revenue.

“We are only levelling the lake bund area adjoining the stormwater drain to start a temporary parking facility. However, a permanent facility will come up over the stormwater drain, which will be covered with slabs. The work orders have been issued and the parking lot will be ready in about eight months,” said a senior BMP official.

He added that greenery would be restored to the lake bund area once parking was shifted to the new venue, which would have a fence that would demarcate it from the garden area.

“The new parking lot can accommodate 600-800 cars and will have a separate entrance too,” he said.

The parking facility near Ulsoor lake was an offshoot of the Traffic Department’s suggestions to divert traffic from commercial hubs. The proposal gathered momentum after the shop-owners on Commercial Street agreed to introduce ferry service.

“The shopkeepers are working out a module for running battery-operated buses to and from the parking lot.

This environment-friendly initiative will take form within a fortnight, he informed.

Moreover, the Ulsoor lake is already attracting enough vehicles and this facility will only instill discipline and end the on-street parking menace,” added the official.