Why Bengaluru must take cue from PM’s speech

BENGALURU: Prime Minister Narendra Modi in his Independence Day address stressed for multi-modal connectivity and infrastructure, something Bengaluru needs to implement on a war footing.
“We cannot work in silos. The entire country has to move towards multi-modal connectivity infrastructure,” the PM said.
Experts say Bengaluru, plagued by poor coordination between various government agencies and also lack of first- and last-mile connectivity, could take a leaf out of the PM’s speech.
The draft Comprehensive Mobility Plan (CMP) had proposed elevated walkways of 300-1,500m at 10 locations, but it remains on paper.
The city’s major bus stations like Shantinagar, Mysuru Road Satellite terminus, Yeshwantpur and Peenya are not yet connected with Metro.
For instance, Yeshwantpur Metro station is not yet connected with the railway station, notwithstanding promises of a foot-over-bridge by BMRCL and SWR.
“There is no integration in Bengaluru with various transport modes. BMTC constructed TTMCs as standalone projects using JNNURM funds wherever they got land, without looking at multi-modal integration. Bengaluru has missed the bus and the government should now come up with a plan to integrate different modes,” said RK Misra, urban mobility expert.
Rajkumar Dugar, founder of Citizens 4 Citizens (C4C), blames BMRCL for the lack of integration. Bus and railway stations were already established, but Namma Metro was a new infrastructure facility which failed to integrate, he pointed out.
An urban development department official said the absence of an umbrella agency like Unified Metropolitan Transportation Authority (UMTA) is the main issue.
“It’s difficult to coordinate with multiple agencies and execute a project as there different stakeholders involved. We’re working hard to improve the integration,” the official pointed out.