Work on busy CNR Rao Circle improvement comes to a halt

BENGALURU: Work on junction improvement at CNR Rao Circle near the Indian Institute of Science (IISc) has come to a halt, due to multiple reasons, one being the opposition from some of the staffers from the educational institution. The issue has also led to a conflict of opinions in the IISc, where some professors and researchers have raised alarms with the institutes director. It is also alleged that there is a request from the institutes director to halt and take a relook before executing the project. Ashish Verma, mobility expert and IISc professor, said there is opposition from some of the people in the IISc for the project, including former deans and others. However, technical details and the IIScs study report on the junction were shared to clear all doubts to ease traffic movement around the junction. Verma was also a part of the committee to redesign the junction improvement work along with the traffic police department and the Bruhat Bengaluru Mahanagara Palike. Presently the islands have been marked and carved out and the boundaries have also been drawn. Police Inspector Ashok from Sadashivanagar traffic police department, under whose jurisdiction the circle lies, said the work has come to a halt but they have no idea about it. Improving and remodelling the junction is needed as the re-routing, which was done after the circle was redesigned, reduced or nearly brought the number of road accidents to a halt. The movement of vehicles has also eased and traffic management has become easy. During peak hours, the passenger car per unit at the junction is around 30,000 vehicles. BBMP executive engineer for the junction, Maralusiddappa, said the work has been temporarily halted due to rain and other reasons. The project which was taken up as a part of the package works is worth around Rs 1 crore and will be completed within one-and-half months once it is resumed. Another BBMP worker, not wanting to be named, said the work has been halted because of some design concerns raised from the IISc and the traffic police at the stage of completion. When contacted, IISc director Prof G Rangarajan refused to comment on the issue.