Silk Board Flyover Revamp to Add Seating for Bus, Metro Commuters; Parking and Play Area Planned
Bengaluru: Seating for people waiting for buses and Metro services, improved footpaths and better use of public space are planned beneath Bengaluru’s Silk Board flyover, where the Bengaluru South City Corporation launched a redevelopment initiative on September 26.
The project goes beyond the silk-themed murals being painted on the flyover’s walls and pillars. Officials have also been directed to provide organised parking, a play area, a separate vending zone and lighting beneath the other side of the flyover.
Corporation Commissioner K.N. Ramesh, who launched the work on the Hosur Road side, said seating would be provided for the thousands of passengers waiting for buses and Metro services at the junction. The redevelopment is intended to make the space more convenient for pedestrians and other members of the public.
The corporation said the project would follow the model adopted beneath the Bellandur flyover.
Greater Bengaluru Authority (GBA) Chief Commissioner Maheshwar Rao said the initiative should not be restricted to painting and beautification. The extensive space beneath the flyover should be developed so that it becomes fully useful to the public, he said.
Rao directed officials to provide systematic parking beneath the other side of the flyover to discourage haphazard roadside parking, alongside the proposed play area, designated vending zone and lighting.
The corporation said officials had been instructed during a visit two days earlier to clear accumulated silt and level the ground beneath the flyover. Teams had since cleaned the site, and further development would follow the wall-beautification work.
The painting campaign forms part of GBA’s ‘Just Clean Bengaluru’ initiative and is being undertaken with NGO India Rising Trust under CGI’s corporate social responsibility programme. More than 60 CGI employees participated as volunteers in the wall-painting activity.
The artwork draws on traditional silk-saree designs to complement the Silk Board junction’s name. Temple borders, mango motifs and peacock designs are being painted on the flyover’s walls and pillars.
Minister Ramalinga Reddy and GBA Chief Commissioner Maheshwar Rao participated in the campaign and encouraged the volunteers.
Reddy said public-private initiatives of this kind could serve as a model for improving the appearance of public spaces in the city. He promised financial support from his MLA funds for similar beautification beneath the Dairy Circle flyover, alongside the work at Silk Board.
He also said the rejuvenation of spaces beneath flyovers along the Outer Ring Road between Silk Board and K.R. Puram would be extended in phases in collaboration with India Rising Trust.
The locations he named were Bellandur, Iblur, Agara, HSR Layout and Mahadevapura. The proposed expansion would focus on improving public spaces beneath these flyovers.
At Silk Board, the seating and pedestrian facilities are intended to address the needs of people who use the junction for their daily journeys, while the parking, vending and recreational provisions form part of the directions for making fuller use of the space beneath the structure.
The corporation described the public amenities as work to be taken up in the coming days following the clearance and wall-beautification activity.
Bommanahalli zone Chief Engineer Malathi, Swachh Bengaluru–GBA ambassador and India Rising Trust representative Arun Pai, the trust’s designer Aniruddha Abhyankar and corporation engineers were present.
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