The lack of safe pedestrian infrastructure has been a common grouse. One example is Iblur junction, where residents say pedestrians risk their lives every day.
On Monday, Gangadhar Nair, 75, was seriously injured after allegedly being hit by a BMTC bus, coming from Chikka Tirupati to K.R. Market, while crossing the busy road.
Local residents said the incident is not an isolated case. They alleged that their demands for a high-rise pedestrian crossing and other facilities are yet to be met by the BBMP.
Ramya Sundararajan of Bellandur Jothege, a federation of Bellandur residents, said, “The bus hit the senior citizen while he was crossing the road from ORR side to Columbia Asia hospital side. At that spot, there is no zebra crossing, and one has to wait till traffic slows down. One has to quickly cross the road as time given by the pelican signal for pedestrians is only a few seconds. During peak hours, it takes at least four minutes to cross the road. There are no pedestrian islands. There are pedestrian crossings at other locations near the junction, but they are not helpful. One has to climb the median to reach other end of the road, putting their lives at risk.”
The traffic police agreed with the residents. A jurisdictional traffic police said, “Due to high density of traffic, it has become difficult for pedestrians to cross the road. There are instances of people jaywalking, which puts their lives at risk. BBMP officials have inspected the area and are working on providing safe pedestrian pathways.”
An official of the Traffic Engineering Cell of BBMP said that the traffic police had asked the civic body to build a pedestrian pathway with a provision for an island, which will be done soon.