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Walk to work means win-win for all

Had a tough day at work? Won't you just love to step out, walk home and probably take a short nap on your bed? Well, staying close to work has far too many advantages.

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Had a tough day at work? Won't you just love to step out, walk home and probably take a short nap on your bed? Well, staying close to work has far too many advantages.

Everybody loves to stay a stone's throw away from their office. Nobody likes to waste precious time commuting miles daily back and forth from office to home. Most offices are situated in busy spots far from residential areas, and that means hours on the road, stuck in traffic jams. Well, a change is in the making.

With more and more software engineers and other employees preferring to walk to work, the real estate sector is abuzz with new projects. The concept is gaining grounds enough to even nudge the government on rethinking town planning. The walk-to-work idea has won the blessings of the state government as the authorities have lately conceived a ‘walk to work’ model for small and medium enterprises (SMEs), where new industrial estates would have residential colonies in the vicinity of workplaces.

According to Nagaraja Reddy, president of Confederation of Real Estate Developers' Association of India (CREDAI), Karnataka, there is a lot of demand for walk-to-work projects. "Many builders, including Astro, Vaishnavi and Brigade, have already launched residential projects near well-known software companies, which employ thousands of people,'' Reddy told us.

He added that various factors like long distances, traffic jams and pollution are the reasons behind engineers and others preferring to move close to the work places. Reddy is also the chairman of Zonasha Projects, which plans to launch a housing project near Sarjapur Road soon. "It will have 600 housing units and each one is expected to cost between Rs 25 to 40 lakhs. The projects will have 2BHK(bedroom-hall-kitchen) and 3BHK units,'' he said.

For example, many techies working at the Manyata Tech Park near Nagawara Lake have moved homes to its vicinity. One of them, a software engineer who spoke to us on the condition of anonymity, said he has shifted his residence from Malleshpalya near CV Raman Nagar to Kempapura near Manyata Tech Park. "I appreciate the government for constructing an Outer Ring Road but the traffic jams at a few junctions, especially on Old Madras Road, and the ongoing underpass work have forced me to shift my residence to Kempapura.''

Ganesh Vasudevan, CEO, IndiaProperty.com, feels that the walk-to-work concept has much potential in Bangalore South as well, and a few builders have already banked on it. "There is a lot of scope for walk-to-work concept in Whitefield and other areas where most of the software companies and malls are situated,'' Vasudevan said.

Suresh Hari, partner, Vishal Promoters & Builders, feels that road connectivity will also play a key role in the success of walk-to-work concept. Hari said the proposed Namma Metro phase II will enable many builders to launch residential projects on Tumkur Road and Kadugodi. "We can expect many software engineers working at particular software hubs to buy flats around the region. The builders have to launch such projects based on the demand though,'' said Hari.

One of the unintended consequence of this walk-to-work concept becoming popular would be reduced traffic jams. If a large number of people who can afford to move close to their offices stay off the roads, it means congestion free roads for the rest of the people. That will have a positive ripple effect with quicker commuting, fewer accidents, and lesser pollution too. It is win-win for all.

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