The pedestrianisation of Gandhi Bazaar Main Road, a key traditional market area in south Bengaluru, has met with stiff resistance. A long pending proposal since 2015, it has now been taken up for implementation.
Residents and traders protested against the pedestrianisation of the road on Monday. They have alleged there has been no adequate information on the proposals in the public domain and demanded a public consultation on the project.
The Basavanagudi Traders’ Association and multiple residents welfare associations of the area have alleged that without public consultation, work has already begun on the road, and they were apprehensive about losing business, being inconvenienced, and about the loss of the heritage character of the area.
“We are convinced that the proposal being implemented will hit our businesses, is not feasible, and will also lead to more traffic congestion in the area. We will not let this project be implemented,” said M. Venkatesh, president, Basavanagudi Traders’ Association.
R.K. Guruprasad, president, Heritage Basavanagudi Residents’ Welfare Forum, who was also a part of the protest on Monday, said pedestrianisation of Church Street during weekends had to be withdrawn following opposition and they were at a loss to understand how they were planning for a permanent pedestrianisation of a key road like Gandhi Bazar Main Road.
Local MLA Uday Garudachar said the Directorate of Urban Land Transport (DULT) that was helming the pedestrianisation project had to conduct an extensive public consultation in the area and could implement the project only if they could convince the residents and traders. “I have sided with the people of my constituency. I will allow the project to be implemented, only if they are convinced of it. A public consultation with a full plan for the area is the need of the hour,” he said.
V. Manjula, Commissioner, DULT, said they were open to a public consultation on the project. However, she added that the project dated back to 2015 when a study was taken up as part of a Karnataka-Germany collaboration, following which there have been several stakeholder consultations and the project has been part of the Comprehensive Mobility Plan, 2020 for the city, which has been approved by the state government. “In 2018, the civic body awarded tenders for white-topping of the road stretch. We are trying to implement pedestrianisation as part of the same project,” she said.
‘Only 350 metres will be pedestrianised’
While the entire stretch of 650 metres from Tagore Circle to Ramakrishna Ashrama Circle will be white-topped, only the middle section of 350 metres from the flower market to Vyasaraja Mutt Circle will be pedestrianised, DULT Commissioner V. Manjula said.
In the pedestrianised stretch, the roadway will be shrunk to 7 metres, which will be provided for movement of emergency vehicles. “In the remaining area, we will put up kiosks ensuring proper frontage for shops so that their business is not hit,” Ms. Manjula said. “We will also hold a design competition for architects for innovative design by preserving all the heritage values of the area,” she added.
However, residents and traders in the area have raised objections to the plan, arguing it was unfriendly for senior citizens. DULT has promised to deploy buggies on the pedestrianised stretch. “Shops will be given a window to get their supplies during night time and there are houses in the stretch, whose residents will be greatly inconvenienced for no fault of theirs,” said Mr. Guruprasad.
There are also concerns that buses, which will be diverted into parallel roads, which are narrow, will cause traffic congestion in the area, than solve it, he added.
Basavanagudi Traders’ Association and RWAs have made a counter design proposal designed by architects they have roped in. “We need improvements in the area, but without disturbing the traffic or heritage of the locality. We have proposed provision of drinking water, toilets, parking facilities and earmarking zones for hawkers, without reducing the right of way of the road. This will not inconvenience anyone,” said M. Venkatesh, president of the association.
