Kasturinagar residents hit the streets for roads

The poor state of Kasturinagar Main Road. SPECIAL ARRANGEMENT

Seeking the restoration of roads in Kasturinagar, more than 400 residents took out a silent march from Green View Park to Vivekananda Park in the area on Monday.

Commercial establishments on the roads downed their shutters for three hours, starting 9.30 am, in solidarity with the protesters.

Roads in 2nd Main, (ward 50) on the western side of Kasturinagar and 4th Main (ward 51) on the eastern side are the crucial roads connecting Baiyappanahalli metro station, Shivajinagar, KR Puram and Hebbal. These are the main connecting roads to schools like New Horizon, Presidency School and some IT companies.

The roads were dug up for pipeline work. But they were not relaid after work. Owing to the non-motorable condition of the roads, the buses have stopped plying in the area, causing great inconvenience to residents.

“The BWSSB had dug up the roads a year ago to lay Cauvery water pipelines. Citing the lack of funds, the BBMP refuses to relay the roads,” said Venugopal Rai, president, Kasturinagar Welfare Association.

“The roads have turned dangerous for motorists and pedestrians as well. We felt our protest could draw the attention of authorities concerned to the problem,” Rai added.

“The BWSSB was supposed to dig only 0.6-metre width of the Kasturinagar roads. But it has dug up about 4.5 metres wide. The board has paid us only Rs 1.6 crore for the restoration work as per the previous measurement. But as the roads are dug up wider, we needed extra funds to restore it, said a BBMP engineer.

“We requested the BWSSB to release additional funds. But as they failed to do so, our higher authorities directed us to seize materials on the road, which we did. Later in a meeting, the BWSSB has agreed to release the extra funds. However, they have not given us any deadline for the payment,” he added.

After the protest march, the residents visited the BBMP office in their area and submitted a memorandum to officials seeking to restore the roads.

Another resident said the roads were so bad that BMTC buses had stopped plying to the area. As a result, there is no bus connectivity to the Baiyappannahalli metro station, which is just about two and a half kilometres away. People have to depend on auto-rickshaws. Drivers often refuse to ply short distances or demand exorbitant fares, the resident added.