In a tragic incident in early January this year, a mother and her two-year-old son passed away when an under-construction metro pillar reinforcement structure in Outer Ring Road (ORR), near HBR Layout, collapsed on them. This led to righteous outrage among citizens. Questions were raised not only about safety at the metro construction site but also about the roads in front of the Metro stations. How safe is it to walk and cross the roads while construction is going on? How challenging is it to commute to metro stations? How much importance is given to fire safety? How are dust and noise pollution issues addressed?
Residents affected
Metro station construction also affects residents living around the site. What issues do they face? Have they noticed cracks in their houses? The fire that erupted in March 2022 at Bamboo Bazaar, next to the Shivajinagar Metro site, had spread to homes. Resident Shahid Rahman lost his house in the fire. Another resident’s grandson had to be admitted to the hospital for oxygen support due to inhalation of smoke.
Read more: How commute can be easy, safe during Metro work on ORR
There are solutions
Citizen Matters wrote about how commute can be safe and easy during metro construction work. The article details pointers for BMRCL to consider and make changes that will provide significant relief to pedestrians and motorists, alike. But what safety audits have been carried out? What could be done better to ensure accidents do not happen again?
To address these concerns, Citizen Matters Bengaluru, has organised a webinar, titled ‘Living with Metro: Addressing safety concerns’, which will be held on January 24th, 6 pm onwards. It will be livestreamed on YouTube.
Event details
- Topic: Living with Metro: Addressing safety concerns
- Date: 24 Jan 2023
- Day: Tuesday
- Time: 6 pm onwards
- Watch: Livestream of the webinar on Citizen Matters, Bengaluru YouTube channel
Read more: Metro sites causing health hazards for workers; employing children – Citizen Matters, Bengaluru
Speakers:
- Mr Prasad B Babu – Chief Structures Expert
- Dr Meghna Verma – HoD Department of Marketing and IB Head, Centre for Sustainability, Ramaiah Institute of Management
- Mr Dayanand Singh – Chief Safety Expert Bhopal Metro
- Anjali Saini – Member, Whitefield Rising
- Moderators – Meera K and Sandhya Bhat
Note: The article was updated with new information after it was first published