Tagore Circle underpass: Mayor faces residents’ ire
Project ‘unscientific’, senior citizens’ problems overlooked
City Mayor S K Natraj on Friday visited the controversial Rabindranath Tagore Circle underpass construction site.
While inspecting the site, he told the media that the project could not be shelved now since work had already begun. “When the project began, I too was opposed to it but now since the work has been commissioned, we will have to finish it,” he said.
Residents were up in arms when the Mayor tried to interact with them about the underpass construction. Miffed with the “unscientific” approach of the Bruhat Bangalore Mahanagara Palike (BBMP) authorities, residents questioned the Mayor as to when reprieve will be provided to them. “There is no facilities for pedestrians here. When the Palike is building such a massive project, they could have taken care of providing at least a footpath. It is a very unscientific approach adopted by them,” rued Anathramaiah, a resident of Basavangudi.
With a majority of the population residing near the Tagore Circle underpass being senior citizens, the residents were annoyed with the negligence of the Palike officials.
“In times of emergency there is no space for ambulances to move. No service roads have been constructed restricting any movement of vehicles,” said Gopinath, a member of Sovereign Apartment Association. Nataraj trying to pacify the angry populace of Basavangudi saying service roads will be in place for the apartments in the area in the next two months.
The estimated cost of the project has been revised, according to the BBMP, and the current cost is at Rs 19 crore, down by almost 12 per cent.
Present at the site of construction, Engineer-in-Chief (EIC) A K Gopalswamy said 30 per cent of the work had been completed and expressed confidence in finishing the project by December this year. Gopalswamy further added that tenders have been invited for shifting the utility lines. The Palike will be constructing a service road from Netkallappa Circle towards Gandhi Bazaar. The EIC also stated that the BBMP is planning to have a traffic diverted from K R Road to National College to begin work on the second leg of the underpass which will involve the National College road.
The Mayor, meanwhile, dismissed questions on the loss of green cover by stating that there should be no problem in that regard. “It is not an issue,” he said.
DH News Service
