Over 900 Indiranagar residents petition B-SMILE over proposed elevated corridor

Indiranagar residents, represented by the federation of Residents Welfare Associations I Change Indiranagar (ICIN), have submitted a petition to B-SMILE urging the agency to reconsider a proposed elevated corridor project.

The proposed corridor is planned to pass through 80 Feet Road, Chinmaya Mission Hospital (CMH) Road, and 100 Feet Road in Indiranagar, stretching between Old Madras Road and Silk Board. The representation, backed by more than 900 resident signatures, was submitted recently following a citizen-led tree-counting exercise along the proposed alignment.

The resident group raised six major concerns regarding the project's planning, data collection, and financial viability. In their submission, ICIN questioned the inclusion of the elevated corridor in the city's mobility planning framework, pointing out that the proposed project does not figure in the Comprehensive Mobility Plan (CMP) 2020.

According to the petition, the project's problem statement is inadequately defined. While the proposed alignment passes through 18 junctions between Old Madras Road and Silk Board, the Detailed Project Report (DPR) relies largely on traffic data collected from a single location near Domlur. Furthermore, ICIN stated that the DPR does not comply with Indian Roads Congress guidelines for planning grade separators and elevated structures, alleging that several mandatory traffic studies were omitted.

The residents also highlighted that the DPR fails to assess the impact of the corridor on local traffic and pedestrians. This is of particular concern around the busy CMH Road and the highly commercialized stretches of Indiranagar.

Additionally, the federation claimed that the projected travel-time savings and financial returns for the corridor lack adequate supporting evidence. The petition also accused the DPR of underestimating the environmental impact of the project. A citizen-led tree census conducted by residents identified over 780 trees along the proposed corridor, which they noted is significantly higher than official estimates.

In light of these concerns, the residents have formally requested a review of the elevated corridor project. The group has called on B-SMILE to explore alternative solutions to the area's traffic issues, including grade-level improvements.