Signature campaign against Sankey Tank project

BANGALORE: The decision to widen Sankey road saw protesters from far and wide, lambasting the Bruhat Bengaluru Mahanagara Palike (BBMP) for taking up such a project. Now, the residents of Sadashivanagar have undertaken a signature campaign to make the BBMP  reconsider their plans.Over 455 residents of the affluent locality have written to the BBMP commissioner to direct his attention to the matter. They have cited, “We do not believe that road widening is a universal solution to traffic congestion. Road widening is being abandoned all over the world, in favour of long term solutions like sustainable transport - public transport and NMT (non-motorized transport).”Adding to this, they have reasoned that the cause of the traffic congestion was not due to the width of Sankey Road but due to the blocking of the CNR Rao circle and inefficient traffic management. Pointing out flaws in the BBMP’s  justification of  widening the road, they           stated, “BBMP is using the traffic count  at  Yeshwantpur as the justification for widening Sankey Road, while the traffic pattern and density at Bhashyam circle is very different. Since BBMP’s policy is to use mere traffic count (PCU) as justification for road widening, we believe that the same justification will in the near future be used to widen roads in  Sadashivanagar.”They have also suggested that the BBMP should increase usage of public transport and NMT.