Civic body draws flak over Rs 26-cr skywalk plan

Barely able to maintain infrastructure in city, BBMP's ambitious plan to build 13 skywalks with escalators draws severe criticism from opposition

Civic body draws flak over Rs 26-cr skywalk plan

Barely able to maintain infrastructure in city, BBMP's ambitious plan to build 13 skywalks with escalators draws severe criticism from opposition

While the BBMP has not been able to provide basic amenities, eradicate potholes, fix bad roads, provide street lights in main areas or clear illegal encroachments -- they have come up with an ambitious Rs 26-crore plan to build 13 skywalks with lifts.

Down and under: The plan comes after a few girl students complained
of eve teasers hanging around below the skywalk outside a city school.
Representation pic

This plan comes after a few girl students complained of eve teasers hanging around below the skywalk outside a city school. The idea faced criticism from the opposition in the council and raised doubts about the sound budget for the financial year of 2011-2012.

"The expected budget for 2010-11 was Rs 2,414 crore while the corporation received Rs 1,049.59 crore, out of which Rs 300 crore was meant for development in the city. This indicates that the corporation is in the red. So this year's budget will be a reflection of last years, without any development," Uday Shankar, opposition leader in the BBMP council said.

BBMP has announced the plan of skywalks on KG Road, and to make it more users friendly, they came up with the idea to include escalators to facilitate better comfort for pedestrians. "BBMP will build13 skywalks, each costing around Rs 2 crore," deputy commissioner Gopal said. But infrastructure adviser to the state M N Shrihari saw this as an unscientific move, which could result in a huge cost to BBMP, but be of no help to the public.
"The project is only on papers and BBMP will face problems in implementing it. Three prerequisites are financial assistance, sound planning and actual requirement of any project, all of which are doubted here," Shrihari asserted.

Fools rush in?
Experts point out that the city already has seven skywalks, which are mostly avoided as a result of unscientific planning by the BBMP. All skywalks will come up on a BOT (Built Operate and Transfer) mode, meaning that the bidder will use skywalks for 20 years, before transferring it to BBMP. Revenue generated through advertising though will remain with the one who builds it.

Gold diggers
Opposition members expressed their doubts saying, "When the basic amenities are not in place, will these big projects come up?" Meanwhile, Shrihari informed that bidders are the only ones who stand to win at the expenses of the public.

"Bidders may see this as a money spinner and BBMP will definitely get money, but the bidder's only concern will be the returns. See all the other skywalks, which are used mainly for advertisement purposes rather than by the public. BBMP should keep this in mind before venturing further," Shrihari added.