more-in Spelling relief for a large number of commuters to Whitefield and International Tech Park (ITPL), and residents of the area, the State Budget has made a proposal to develop 14 alternative roads to ITPL. These roads are expected to take the pressure off the ITPL Main Road, where Namma Metro work has led to bottlenecks. Whitefield and ITPL are accessed mainly through two arterial roads: ITPL Main Road and HAL Airport Road. There is tremendous pressure on the two roads during peak hours. The 14 alternative roads are essentially existing roads connected to the Outer Ring Road (ORR) or running parallel to the ORR and the ITPL Main Road which will be widened on certain stretches and asphalted. But it is not going to be an easy task. The Bruhat Bengaluru Mahanagara Palike (BBMP) has selected only 43.62 km-long stretches; it is yet to do a financial estimate. Widening of some stretches of these roads may get caught in land acquisition issues, as property owners have been increasingly refusing TDR as the mode of compensation. “While we welcome the development of these roads, the work should have been done even before the Namma Metro work began in the area, saving us from the ordeal,” said Zibi Jamal of Whitefield Rising. Urban activist from the area, R.K. Mishra said some of these roads are in poor condition. However, Jaishankar Reddy, Executive Engineer, Major Roads, BBMP, said redeveloping these roads required little land acquisition, and the work would be completed in six months. Delayed projects There are other projects that have been in the pipeline for long now. Work on the underpass at Kundanahalli Gate, which will allow traffic from both Kadugodi and HAL Airport Road, has begun only now and is expected to take at least six months to complete. It has been pending for four years. The BBMP has also proposed to widen the railway overbridge on Kadugodi Road, a major bottleneck, for which even a DPR has not been prepared. N. Manjunath Prasad, Commissioner, BBMP, said the financial estimates would be in place in two weeks and work would begin soon. According to sources, the civic body wants to start the work before the model code of conduct for the Assembly election kicks in.

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