Over 50,000 techies working in Electronics City hit hard by farmer stir; toll collection from techies nearly down to zero
Over 50,000 techies working in Electronics City hit hard by farmer stir; toll collection from techies nearly down to zero
With the Nandi Infrastructure Corridor Enterprise (NICE) Expressway, which reduces precious commuting time tou00a0 the major IT hub of Electronics City, shut for the past five days because of former prime minister H D Deve Gowda's pro-farmer protest, traffic woes are back. Over 50,000 techies relying on the road are affected.
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Roadblock: JD(S) president H D Deve Gowda talks to agitating farmers near Hemmigepura. Gowda supports the farmers. Pic/Vinod Kumar T |
Also, the NICE Expresway, which cuts down travel time by close to an hour for many, is losing Rs 4 lakh in toll charges paid by techies alone everyday.
Deve Gowda's has held a string of protests along a stretch of the NICE road, which forms a part of the Bangalore-Mysore Infrastructure Corridor (BMIC). As a result, many techies are reporting late to work over the past five days.u00a0u00a0
"Techies are the worst hit," said a source at NICE. "We had three batches of techies every day taking this stretch to reach offices in Electronic City. But now, they are forced to take roads through the city as the stretch is shut down for the last five days."
The protest that farmers of Hemmigepura started last week, demanding a foot overbridge in the BMIC stretch near Hemmigepura, is growing in strength with Deve Gowda's support to them.
The 41-km stretch helps techies commuting to Electronic city from various parts of city like Tumkur Road, Magadi Road, Mysore road and Kanakpura road, reach their workplaces without encountering a traffic signal.
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But with the protest blocking over nine km of the stretch from Mysore road to Kanakapura road, techies are facing traffic woes again.
""This is the main place one has to cross to reach Electronic City," said a NICE spokesperson. "And with nine km blocked here, those commuting to Electronic City, especially, are forced to take alternative roads through city."u00a0
Electronic City is an IT hub that houses companies like Infosys, Wipro, Hewlett-Packard and Siemens.u00a0
The revenue generated from commuters to Electronic City using the stretch supports the fact that it is a heavy use road. Techies working in three shifts and commuting to Electronic City make up about Rs 4 lakh of the revenue on an average everyday. Besides them, there are a number of private vehicles commuting from Tumkur road, Magadi road, Mysore road and Kanakpura road to Electronic city and contributing to the revenue.u00a0
With the protest on for the past five days, besides affecting techies, the toll collection from techies commuting to Electronic City from the stretches mentioned has come down to zero, said sources.
"I'm not using the stretch for the last two days," said Basavraj A, a regular commuter to Electronic City from Mysore Road. "The ongoing protest has put me back on the city roads, which are jam packed as usual. The time required to reach my office through BMIC stretch is almost half the time required to reach office through roads in city."
The NICE management has decided to help commuters fighting the battle. It has decided to take the legal route. "We are moving the Supreme Court," said Ashok Kheny, MD, NICE. "These issues being raised now are already resolved in the court of law. The protest by the former prime minister amounts to contempt of court.
We hope to get a solution in Supreme Court."
