Bangalore: On April 25, 2012, her last day in office, the then BBMP mayor, Sharadamma inaugurated a lift attached to the skywalk across KG Road that cost Rs 2.5 crore. Nearly two years later, the skywalk itself has become an idle investment. Most of the time the lift is either locked, or pedestrians prefer crossing the road as they did earlier.
However, constructing the skywalk became necessary after Kandaya Bhavan (Revenue House) and the NABARD office came up and pedestrian density increased in the city.
The lift, in fact, is installed with CCTV cameras to ensure total safety of users, and security guards were also posted on both sides. However, none of this has persuaded pedestrians to use this facility and the traffic police has done very little to ensure that crossing the road is prohibited.
The skywalk has turned into a white elephant and public money spent in its construction has been wasted. Remesh K. Rao, a local hotelier told Deccan Chronicle that the skywalk has made crossing the road safe, but people just don’t use it.
“KG Road is a busy road as it connects a major part of Bengaluru with the Majestic bus terminus and city railway terminus. But people prefer crossing the road instead of using the lifts,” he said.
The lift is either locked or the security personnel are missing. Rajamani Gowda, a daily visitor to the revenue building said women rarely use the lift because security guards are not present most of the time. “Many times they switch it off. Even though there are CCTV cameras, there is some taboo associated with it,” she said.
When contacted, a BBMP officer said the project is unique. “If all the pedestrians use this lift then the whole investment becomes meaningful. There is no fault from our side,” he said.
