Arduous journey for pedestrians

Arduous journey for pedestrians
By S Lalitha, DH News Service, Bangalore:
Instead of the five-minute walk through the subway, the people are forced to spend 15 minutes now to go up the bridge and cross over through the subway located at another end.


It has been a month since the connecting passage in the subway between the City Railway Station and the KSRTC depot was sealed in the wake of bomb blasts in the City.

Following this, the pedestrians have been put to great difficulty.

Instead of the five-minute walk through the subway, the people are forced to spend 15 minutes now to go up the bridge and cross over through the subway located at another end. It is a pitiable sight to see public with heavy luggage, kids and the disabled scale up and down with great difficulty. Contributing to the agony are the old signboards which mislead outsiders.

The subway is maintained by the BBMP, but KSRTC was given permission to bar the connecting gate. Mahesh from Bellary carrying heavy luggage, was found helping his mother climb the bridge. “I have been using this subway 1992. Why has it become so complicated to cross over now? My mother is a heart patient and this kind of exertion will affect her,” he said.

Many complaints

Prakash, a ticketing agent for a travel group near the railway station, says passengers have been complaining regulary. A security guard said, “Those coming from other states are not familiar with the language. It is tough to guide them as new signboards have not come up yet.”

N Prakash Babu, Divisional Controller, KSRTC, says that the blockade has been done in the interest of the security of the people. “We do not have any plans to open it in the near future.” When informed about the hassles the pedestrians were undergoing, Babu said, “We have to give priority to public safety and the sealing is here to stay.” There are five security men posted at five gates of the depot and we do not have enough security persons to man this entrance too.

It is a good time though for private bus operators and autorickshaw drivers. “Many now opt for an auto to cross from the bus stop to the railway station and vice versa.” The distance to be crossed also makes some passengers opt for private buses which quickly stop in front of the railway station and goad them to get in.