The tussle between residents and BBMP continues

BANGALORE: The tussle between the residents and Bruhat Bangalore Mahanagara Palike (BBMP) over the road widening at Sankey Tank continues as the meeting between the Residents Welfare Associations of Malleswaram and Vyalikaval and deputy mayor S Harish remained inconclusive.Following the lack of any response from MLA Ashwathnarayan on Sunday, the residents met the Deputy Mayor, Corporators Manjunath Raju and Dr Shivaprasad on Monday to persuade them against undertaking the road widening work at Sankey Tank.Dr Meenakshi Bharath, secretary, Malleswaram Swabhimana Initiative, said that in the deputy mayor’s opinion, the decision to widen the road was taken five years ago and that the road widening work will be carried out.After the meeting, Dr Meenakshi, accompanied by BBMP officials from the Road Infrastructure Department, visited Sankey Road and counted the number of the trees that will be affected by the road widening work. While BBMP maintains that only 19 trees will be felled, the residents believe that once the road widening work starts, the number of trees that need to be felled is bound to increase. The first phase of road widening will cut down 19 trees. BBMP maintains that this number will not increase. The residents have been asked to come back on Thursday after the council meetings at the corporation are over.Is widening the solution?The corporation identified Sankey Road as one of the ‘arterial’ roads. The decision to widen the road was taken five years ago as part of the CDP plan for the city. “Every local project should involve local consultation. Citizens should be consulted before making such decisions,” said Dr Meenakshi Bharath. Further she also said that the two-phased road widening work will not help ease the traffic situation. She said the road would be widened up to 41 metres which will not ease traffic congestion.The alternativeThe citizens believe that the corporation should adopt other measures such as providing better connectivity in the form of better buses, better walking areas and cycling tracks.