Residents slam Palike’s plans to redesign Kanakapura Road

Bengaluru: Residents of Kanakapura Road on Sunday staged a protest over reducing the width of the main carriageway to accommodate vehicular parking. “Fix the potholes first,” one of them said.

“The parking lot plan appears to be a deliberate attempt to please big commercial establishments on Kanakapura Road like car showrooms that do not have enough parking space created on their premises,” said Abdul Aleem, a member of I Change Kanakapura Road.

The association decided to hold the unique protest, with one resident dressed as Mahatma Gandhi, after its multiple requests to meet the BBMP’s Traffic Engineering Cell (TEC), which is responsible for building the high-density corridor project, received no response.

The members said the BBMP is defying the state government’s order on treating Kanakapura Road as a no-tolerance road with zero parking. The residents want the BBMP to maintain a uniform carriageway of three lanes on Kanakapura Road by providing a minimum of 2 to 2.5m width for pedestrian pavements. They also requested bollards to be installed on footpaths for the safety of pedestrians.

Residents of Kanakapura Road staged a protest on Sunday to oppose narrowing down of the (L) main carriageway. PHOTO: Abdul Aleem (a resident)