Post-rain, driving proves nightmare in City

The City road, filled with potholes, became all the more difficult to ply on as the rain in the last four days has washed away the asphalt at important points.

The showers were welcomed otherwise - as the mercury level was set to touch 40 degrees - but the rains added to the woes of the citizens who have already been frustrated with the poor infrastructure. As the rain pounded the City since Saturday night, the roads that were already in bad shape turned all the more unusable.

The worst-affected roads are the JC Road, Avenue Road, the roads to KR Market, Banashankari, Sarakki, Shivajinagar, Ulsoor as well as the road connecting Banashankari to Jayanagar 4th Block and at the Residency Road-Brigade Road Junction.

The missing slab stones from the pavements of the road from the National College till the Vani Vilas Junction have made the stretch not pliable for even pedestrians, let alone vehicle users.

A commuter who had been waiting for the BMTC bus near the National College on JC Road said that the footpaths and the roads were both dangerous for bus passengers as the commuters could slip off while boarding or getting off a bus.

Chethan M, a commuter, said that it is especially dangerous for senior citizens to take the bus here. The uneven pavement and the pothole-filled road may lead to accidents when they get on or off the bus. During rains, the chances of senior citizens slipping is only higher, he added.

The rain during the last four days has created a huge, crater-sized pothole outside the Vani Vilas Hospital. Traders said that many motorbike users have been trying to negotiate with the pothole and have fallen off their vehicles. They also showed a BMTC bus barely a few metres away that had broken down after ‘falling’ into the ditch. Traffic was affected as the bus was stranded midway on Tuesday.

Darkness beneath the lamp

While the Bruhat Bengaluru Mahanagara Palike officials claim repeatedly that they cannot monitor development work in the City, they have turned a blind eye to the bad pavements adjoining the head office of the Palike itself, especially outside its main entrance.

Water was stagnant on the road adjoining the boundary wall of the BBMP head office on Tuesday, yet people were forced to stand on the road as the pavements were battered and the bus stop by the road is constructed at a height that keeps many commuters from reaching it.

The problem at the Residency Road and Brigade Road intersection has proven perennial, as the asphalt was washed away and the footpath, which is in bad shape, forced pedestrians to walk on the Residency Road that had a rush of vehicles.