Bengaluru: ‘Open Streets’ hits roadblock

Bengaluru: After ‘Open Streets’ in HSR Layout, it is going to be ‘Streets for All’ at Whitefield.  This initiative, like the other one, aims to encourage the habit of walking. The aim is also to restore public spaces to the people.

The event, which will be anchored by DULT, will see music and rumba on the road. For this purpose one side of the road from Forum Value Mall till Borewell Road will be blocked.

Initially scheduled for November 22, the event has been postponed due to a few residents showing their disapproval of the event because of worsening traffic jams, parking issues and bad roads at Whitefield.

The event is being conducted by Embark, an NGO, in association with DULT, Tourism Department and in support of Bengaluru Traffic Police.

Confirming to Deccan Chronicle that the event has been postponed due to resistance from a few residents, Additional Commissioner of Bengaluru Traffic Police (BTP) MA Saleem said, “It will happen, but for now it has been put on hold.” Meanwhile, Majula, the chief of DULT said, “We are working to finalize a date.”

“Streets for All’ is a part of the Open Streets event. Currently, there is a serious infrastructure issue at Whitefield. In the light of such a situation, an event of this kind is not justified, feels residents.

Pawan from Embark says, “We have postponed the event since the road condition is dreadful. We want the infrastructure issues to be attended to first, as our event is about pedestrians’ safety and then we will conduct the event. The residents had an issue with the event, because at present there are huge potholes on the roads and there have been a few serious accidents as well.”

V Ravi Chander, who is part of Karnataka Tourism Group says, “We had actually asked BTP Addl Commissioner Saleem for permission to have the ‘Streets for All’ event on every Sunday for three months. He gave us permission for November 22 and said depending on the response , other events can be planned  later, which we agreed to. However, now it has been postponed.”

Stressing the importance of such events, Ravi Chander said, “Through such events we want to open some public spaces which are used by vehicles. Thus, makes it available to people for walking, cycling and other activities. We are seriously starved of open spaces. Can we give half a day once a week to make the roads available for those people who want to walk and cycle? Normally these events are not required when there are  open spaces. But over-reliance on private vehicular models have compelled us to bring in such events. In Bogota, 1 million people turned out for the event, leaving their vehicles behind. We can do the same here.”

The event has brought about a debate among the residents of Whitefield, with some supporting the event and others  miffed about it.

Rachita Anand, a resident, says, “There will be loud music and traffic chaos in front of my lane. So, what value will it bring, especially given the current terrible state of the roads? There are many other silent ways of putting the same message across. We are already dealing with bad traffic and parking issues here and it is tough for us to take our vehicles out from our lane.”

Voicing a similar opinion, Sunita Pandit questions, “How are they going to manage the parking? Besides, Sunday is the only day Whitefield residents can think of coming out from their houses and they want to block that as well. Again where will the loudspeakers be installed? There is no clarity as to how they are going to conduct such a mega event.”

Arvind S, a commuter, said, “Bengaluru needs serious infrastructure development before government agencies take up such CSR activities.”

Good response at HSR

On September 19 an Open Streets event was conducted at HSR Layout, which saw a huge number of people coming out to take part in various events like cycling, painting, street plays, zumba, cricket and the like. In fact, HSR Layout wore a different look altogether on this day. When DC spoke to a few residents and children, they demanded the authorities to bring back ‘Open Streets’ again to their locality.”

However, there were a few who were furious over not being able to take their vehicles inside HSR Layout as they were made to park the vehicles and either walk or take a BMTC bus. All the roads heading to HSR Layout were kept under  close vigilance by the Bangalore police and were strictly closed for private vehicles.

This invariably resulted in parking issues in and around HSR Layout. Vehicles were seen parked right from Agara Signal till Silk Board. Also,  many who were either heading to a hospital or airport were seen getting into arguments with the police.

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