Flooded with complaints about traffic congestion along the IT corridor in Bengaluru, Karnataka Chief Minister Siddaramaiah has urged Wipro to limit vehicular movement through its Sarjapur campus, stating that such a measure could reduce congestion on adjoining stretches of Outer Ring Road by nearly 30 per cent, particularly during peak hours.
In a September 19 letter addressed to Azim Premji, Founder Chairman of Wipro Limited, Siddaramaiah urged him to “explore the possibility of allowing limited vehicular movement through the Wipro campus, subject to mutually agreed terms and necessary security considerations”. He also cited preliminary assessments by traffic and urban mobility experts to buttress his point.
Cooperation by the firm would “go a long way in easing traffic bottlenecks, enhancing commuter experience, and contributing to a more efficient and livable Bengaluru”, the chief minister said, requesting Wipro to engage with government officials to work out a mutually acceptable plan at the earliest.
The letter comes in the wake of continued traffic congestion in the area, attributed to poor road infrastructure, which causes severe traffic congestion during peak hours along Outer Ring Road.
Meanwhile, days after Siddaramaiah set a September-end deadline to fill all potholes in Bengaluru, Deputy Chief Minister D K Shivakumar said on Tuesday that 1,000 potholes were being filled daily.
Speaking to reporters, Shivakumar said that about 200 potholes were being filled in each of the five corporations. “Officials and workers are working amid the rain, too,” he said.
Referring to his recent visit to Delhi, he asked the media to review and report the number of potholes in the national capital, including on the road to the prime minister’s residence. “Potholes are a problem across the country. Only Karnataka’s issues are being blown out of proportion. I would like to tell everyone, including the big businesses in Bengaluru, that we are doing our job of filling potholes,” he said.
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Blaming the previous BJP Government for the state of roads in the city, Shivakumar said that Bengaluru would not have faced such a problem if roads had been maintained well during their tenure.
The Karnataka Government has come under scanner over the past few weeks, with Bengaluru residents complaining about poor stretches of roads in areas such as Mahadevapura and KR Puram. The conditions were exacerbated by rainfall, due to which the condition of the roads worsened.