Commuters on Panathur Main Road have a nightmarish experience due to the delay in the construction of the railway underpass.
DH PHOTO/BK Janardhan
The white-topping work on Panathur Road has been completed, and the HAL Airport Traffic Police have confirmed that the stretch will reopen to vehicular movement from Monday.
While the reopening is expected to ease daily inconvenience, residents say the relief will be limited unless long-pending road infrastructure projects are taken up. Many have urged authorities to begin work on the long-promised CDP Road, approved nearly a decade ago.
‘Band-aid solution’
“Panathur Road is just a band-aid. The deeper issues remain,” said Shwetha Rangaswamy, a resident and member of the Individual Tax Payers’ Forum. She added that authorities must reconsider approvals for new high-rises in an already overburdened neighbourhood.
“Until the CDP Road is fixed, Panathur traffic will not improve. The traffic pressure has only shifted from 25 metres to 35 metres,” she said.
Another resident, who preferred to remain anonymous, pointed out that drain pipes remain unattended and could worsen mobility if it rains in the coming days.
The white-topping work, which began in early October, forced commuters to navigate a rough alternative route. The Greater Bengaluru Authority (GBA) did not provide a proper diversion, and a video showing commuters riding on a dirt track had gone viral on social media.