The Times of India 03.12.2010
Siddaiah wants user-friendly skywalk
BANGALORE: Soon after the safety and stability issue was raised on the pedestrian footpath, BBMP commissioner Siddaiah directed his staff to make the structure user-friendly, especially for children.
Inspecting the foot overbridge near Sophia School on Thursday, he directed BBMP engineers to provide a 6-ft safety grill all along the railing and footbridge, as the structure was more beneficial to schoolchildren.
The decision came in the wake of discussions on the safety aspects and stability of the skywalk, with B K Raghu Prasad from the Indian Institute of Science and H Rajasimha, BBMP technical adviser.
He also suggested that the implementing agency provide a minimum of three lifts for the skywalk to make it user-friendly and more attractive.
It may be recalled that opposition leader in the BBMP council N Nagaraj raised serious objection about the stability of the skywalk and the pedestrian foot overbridge obstructing the movement of pedestrians on the footpath.
The construction of the foot overbridge has been taken up on a public-private partnership module. The implementing agency will be given advertisement display rights. Gradually, the rights for display of advertisements would be enhanced to 25 years from the present five years, he added.
