Bengaluru: Amid Bengaluru city’s traffic woes making headlines, Karnataka Chief Minister Siddaramaiah has written to Wipro Founder Chairman Azim Premji, requesting his group’s help in the easing of traffic on the Outer Ring Road (ORR) stretch by allowing limited vehicular movement through the Wipro campus in the city.
In his letter addressed to Azim Premji on Tuesday, CM Siddaramaiah stated, “I extend my warm greetings to you and sincerely appreciate Wipro’s continued contribution to the progress of Karnataka’s IT ecosystem and overall socio-economic development.
“One of the key challenges currently facing Bengaluru, particularly along the Outer Ring Road (ORR) corridor at Iblur Junction is severe traffic congestion during peak hours, which adversely impacts mobility, productivity, and the quality of urban life.
“In this context, I wish to explore the possibility of allowing limited vehicular movement through the Wipro campus, subject to mutually agreed terms and necessary security considerations.
“Preliminary assessments by traffic and urban mobility experts indicate that such a measure could reduce congestion on adjoining stretches of the ORR by nearly 30 per cent, particularly during peak office hours.”
CM Siddaramaiah requested, “Your support in this matter will go a long way in easing traffic bottlenecks, enhancing commuter experience, and contributing to a more efficient and livable Bengaluru. I would greatly appreciate it if your team could engage with our officials to work out a mutually acceptable plan at the earliest.”
It can be recalled that Rajesh Yabaji, Co-Founder and CEO of BlackBuck Company operating from Bellandur ORR stretch in Bengaluru, expressing disappointment over the condition of the roads, had announced that his company was planning to move out of the area. However, later he changed his mind and stated that the firm would continue to remain in the area.
Taking to X, Rajesh Yabaji had stated, “ORR Bellandur has been our office and home for the last 9 years. But, now it has become very-very hard to continue here, We have decided to move out.”
Providing reason for his decision, he stated, “Background – average commute for my colleagues shot up to 1.5 hours for one way. Roads full of potholes and dust, coupled with lowest intent to get them rectified, Don’t see any of this changing in next 5 years.”
Later on September 18 he reneged on his decision and posted that the Blackbuck Company won’t move out of Bengaluru, instead, it will expand its footprint here.
Sharing the clarification in this regard, Rajesh Yabaji had stated, “BlackBuck started its operation in the year 2015 from Bengaluru, beginning from a small office near the Sony Signal in Koramangala in Bengaluru. As we expanded our operations and teams, we moved to Bellandur ORR in 2016 for larger office spaces and better suited facilities.
“The ORR, the city of Bengaluru and the state of Karnataka has enabled the company with the needed resources, infrastructure, talent density and opportunities to grow into a large company, making a meaningful impact across the trucking ecosystem in India.”
“As one of the biggest beneficiaries of the Karnataka tech-ecosystem over the last decade, we fully understand what the city of Bengaluru has helped us achieve and how it will be playing a major role in unlocking our potential ahead. Hence, we unilaterally refute the claims made by some media outlets that we are considering moving out of the city,” Rajesh Yabaji stated.
“We are only relocating within the city to a different location, which will facilitate an easy commute for our employees. As we do this, we want to reiterate that a large part of operations would still continue to happen on the ORR, and hence we will continue to seek help from the concerned authorities to enable infrastructure improvements to facilitate smooth business operations,” he stated.
“We will not only continue to remain in the city of Bengaluru, but will also expand our footprint here. Bengaluru is home for us and as always, we continue to remain committed to relay our needs and issues to the relevant government authorities and seek support to get them resolved,” he clarified.
However, his earlier statement on relocation had created a huge controversy and the leaders of the IT industry had raised concern and appealed to the Karnataka government to address the situation with proactive measures.
Padma Shree awardee Mohandas Pai and Biocon Founder Kiran Mazumdar-Shaw reacted to the development and in a social media post Pai tagged Karnataka Deputy Chief Minister D.K. Shivakumar, who is also Bengaluru Development Minister and expressed displeasure and appealed to him to find solutions to improve Bengaluru roads.
“Big, big failure of governance in Bengaluru. Please see, cos are moving out of ORR. Situation beyond hope. Please intervene,” said former Infosys CFO Pai.
Reposting Pai’s post, Mazumdar-Shaw said, “This is serious. Emergency measures needed to fix these issues.”
In his post lambasting the government Pai had also tagged the Commissioner of Greater Bengaluru Authority (GBA), Chief Minister Siddaramaiah, Minister for IT and BT Priyank Kharge and BJP MP P.C. Mohan.
Dy CM Shivakumar responding on the poor condition of roads in Bengaluru, stated, “Deadline is given to fill potholes and submit a report to me in writing. Commissioners are instructed to share the information on their morning rounds in the city.”
(IANS)
