Bengaluru: Angry residents of the housing enclave near the Manyata Tech Park, who are protesting the rising traffic in their 85-acre layout, had a star representative take up their cause on Thursday. Kannada superstar, Shivrajkumar, who lives in the locality, met Home Minister Ramalinga Reddy at his home to discuss the problem when he visited it to see their plight for himself.
The Minister, who also met other residents, promised to find a solution to the growing traffic in the layout - a jump of upto 1,00,000 vehicles from a few hundreds in the space of one year - which has thrown daily life out of gear.
"The residential locality is right in the middle of the park and we literally feel like we have been jailed inside here," said renowned Kannada actor Shivarajkumar.
Urban expert, Ashwin Mahesh, blames lack of proper planning for the troubles of the layout. "Major infrastructure projects like Manyata should look at seamless connectivity to main roads, outer ring roads and airports. But clearly there was no comprehensive plan," he regrets.
Suggesting that the government work on providing direct access from the tech park to the main road and ring road for its employees, he says the problem could have been averted had there been proper public transport in the area.
Manyata tech park residents feel ‘caged’ due to traffic snarls
When the Manyata Tech Park built a residential enclave nearby, the people who moved in, were reportedly told they could live in peace as only some 30,000 workers would be employed at the park spread over 150-acres.
But to their dismay, the number of employees at the tech park has steadily risen and now has crossed 1.5 lakh and nearly all of them use the roads criss-crossing the residential layout to get to it from the main road and Outer Ring Road.
Complains Ms Suman, a resident of the locality, "The number of vehicles using the roads of our colony is multiplying every day and we our losing our patience. How are you supposed to feel if you cannot head home peacefully owing to the traffic snarl created every day by vehicles from the tech park ?” She says there have been times when the residents have been forced to park their vehicles far away from their homes due to the traffic and walk to them. They later returned at night or early morning to collect them.
Her solution is construction of a flyover over the Outer Ring Road to provide employees direct access to the tech park.
Urban expert, Ashwin Mahesh also suggests providing direct access from Manyata Tech Park to the main road and ring road and improving public transport to solve the problem.
"Although half of Bengaluru's population lives outside the ring roads , the BMTC provides 70 per cent of its services in the areas on the other side of them. Then how
can one expect a person living outside the ORR to reach his office by bus ?" he asks pertinently, lamenting that the failure of public transport to provide seamless connectivity to every nook and corner of the city has only added more private vehicles to its roads.
Mr D S Rajashekar, president of the Citizens' Action Forum, says the solution to the traffic in the Manyata residential enclave lies in figuring out how to have more exit and entry points at the tech park.
“The authorities could also explore the option of allowing vehicles only during a particular time of day through the layout, and encouraging employees to come by public transport or office bus," he suggests.
The activist believes construction of a flyover over ORR could help matters as well.
Between 5-8 pm it is unbearable: ShivarajKumar
Three days after Kannada actor Shivarajkumar took to streets protesting against traffic woes around Manyata Tech Park, Home Minister Ramalinga Reddy visited the locality took stock of situation on Thursday. He assured the residents that action will be taken after consulting with the authorities concerned.
The residents said the minister has assured them that some interim measure like ‘one-way’ traffic will be taken to ease the traffic flow.
As for other long term solutions, including a bridge and as well as a separate road for the residential locality inside the Manyata Tech Park will be taken up after consulting it with Bengaluru Development Minister, BBMP and others, the Home Minister assured residents.
Renowned Kannada actor Shivarajkumar, a resident right within the Tech Park, says that the traffic problem has become unbearable for over a year now.
“The main reason behind the traffic snarls is the vehicles which block both entry and exit point leading into the Park especially during the peak hours between 5 pm and 8 pm. It results in huge traffic blockage. Also, there is no privacy for the residents who these days barely come out of their houses in the evening due to traffic issues. I, myself on several occasions have got down of the car and walked till my house due to traffic snarls. The residential locality is right in the middle of the park and we literally feel like we have been jailed inside here,” Shivarajkumar said.
He further added that at the time of developing the residential plot, the promoters had assured us of a separate entry and exit, but they did not keep their word.
“When the Tech Park had started, there was hardly population inflow of 30,000, but now it has shot up to more a lakh. With more number of offices coming up, the numbers are set to increase. It is not just us but it also a huge problem for all those working at the Park. We are not against anyone, as even their safety is a concern. They have to reach home and offices safely,” said Shivarajkumar. Following Home Minister’s visit to his residence, Shivarajkumar thanked the minister for taking time to listen to their problems. “The Minister has assured that a solution will be found at the earliest after discussing it with concerned department. We the residents will also meet Agriculture Minister Krishna Byre Gowda, who is the local MLA here, to bring it to his attention,” he said.
