Residents and traders of one of the oldest roads of Bangalore came out in support of a campaign against the road-widening project and transfer of developmental rights (TDR) scheme on Friday morning.
“Give us some poison and kill us all before you destroy our homes and take away our livelihood.” That’s the cry on Mount Joy Road, where residents and traders of one of the oldest roads of Bangalore came out in support of a campaign against the road-widening project and transfer of developmental rights (TDR) scheme on Friday morning.
The rally was also an event to raise the tempo and awareness for the Save Bangalore Committee’s citizens’ convention. The citizens are gathering at NGO Bhavan, Cubbon Park, on Sunday morning.
“Widen this road and you will be rendering us homeless. We will not let that happen. We will stand in the way of bulldozers if they come here to demolish our buildings,” said Sudhakar PR, an industrialist. He was born in the area and has seen the development of Mount Joy Road over the decades.
The middle-class landlords will lose their properties, which are the only source of income to payback the loans they have taken to build the structures. “We will not leave our houses, we will not accept compensation or Development Rights Certificate,” said T Rajanna, a resident of Ashok Nagar for the last 35 years.
Traffic jams in this area are caused by buses which frequent the area due to the travel agencies located near Vidyapeetha Circle. “We have an order of the traffic police that forbids these buses from using this road. That rule was being followed for few months and traffic moved smoothly. But now, the police are just turning a blind eye to it,” says Uday Shekhar. “We have simple solutions that can easily solve the traffic woes. Why can’t the government listen to the common man?” he adds.
Making the road a one-way, tweaking the direction of traffic flow, adding a flyover at Vidyapeetha Circle, prohibiting entry of heavy vehicles and tourist buses would give instant relief, say the residents.
The BBMP plans to add 24 metres width to Mount Joy Road and Kathriguppe Main Road via Vidyapeeta Circle from Bull Temple Road to Ring Road at Banashankari III stage. This stretch is about 3 km and about 30-35 feet broad.
The protest march on this road that connects Bull Temple Road to Katriguppe Main Road just mirrors the angry mood in the city against the TDR model.
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