On Thursday, children and women from Priyanka Nagar and Seegehalli, who form a part of the Alli Serona, gathered to ride in the bus as a mark of celebration. Alli Serona, a collective of civil society organisations, ideators, and think tanks working to address the transport needs of women from the informal sector, has repeatedly highlighted mobility gaps in the city and also brought together experts and underserved women to co-create solutions like bus routes and walkable footpaths.
The major roads department of the Bruhat Bengaluru Mahanagara Palike (BBMP) did develop the footpath — it spent crores of rupees for asphalting and development of the sidewalks on either side of the road. However, it appears the BBMP made no effort to inspect the quality of the footpaths thereafter.
Bengaluru is also experiencing a tremendous influx of residents, which can mostly be divided into two segments. One segment consists of former residents who returned home because of the pandemic in 2020 and 2021.
A senior BMTC official told BM, “We have floated tenders three times now. For the first tender call, there were no bids, for the second, we received a single bid. One bid came from Olectra Greentech Ltd but the quoted rate was exorbitant. We had to cancel the tender and retender it.”
Numerous hotel owners have submitted petitions to the city police, asserting that the current closing time does not align with the typical commencement of New Year celebrations around 11:30 pm or 12 am.