Hennur-Bagalur Road, a commuter's nightmare

Pothole menace is not new to Bengalureans, but every time it rains, commuters are caught in a fresh deluge of woes. Not only do the potholes hinder the smooth flow of traffic but also lead to accidents, and some of them are fatal.

Though Deputy Chief Minister and Bangalore Development Minister G Parameshwara recently claimed that the majority of the potholes have been fixed, a ride through Hennur-Bagalur Road (also known as New Airport Road) paints a different picture. 

Around four to five kilometres of the road is left half-tarred because of pipelines that were recently laid. The pipes for gas, water and sewage have also been laid in different phases. Though the road was dug up long ago, it remains in the same condition even now.

Traffic congestion

The stretch from Hennur Junction towards Kothanur shrinks with half the road unsuitable for vehicular movement. With Hennur housing several educational institutions, the stretch becomes choc-o-bloc when traffic piles up.

The flyover at Hennur junction opened for traffic last March - nine years after the construction began. The construction of the flyover has also contributed to the poor condition of the road here.

"We thought that the road would be repaired after the opening of the flyover," says Venkatesh, a resident of Hennur.

"It has been five months and we see no effort being made to fix the problem. A few metres of the road around the flyover was tarred at the time of the inauguration. Now the service road near the flyover has also been dug up for the same purpose," he added.

No solution in sight

The problems don't end there. When it rains, you cannot traverse through Hennur Cross without muddy water getting splashed.

"The authorities keep dumping loads of mud and construction waste to level the road, but the rainwater washes away the mud, leaving behind the stones and concrete," says a roadside fruitseller.

"Once the rain stops, dust will rise. We have been suffering this for years, but there has been no solution in sight," he rues.

Though the authorities tried to do some patchwork on the dug-up area after Hennur Bande, the asphalt gave way soon. The patched-up road is not motorable because of the unscientific method of tarring.

The Hennur Taskers, a group of residents from various apartments in Hennur, had successfully coerced the authorities to finish the construction of the flyover. They also produced a video showing the condition of the road which went viral on social media.

Rakesh Malhotra, a member of Hennur Taskers, says he had complained to the BBMP Commissioner about the issue but there has been no solution so far.

"We have been raising the issue on social media and other platforms, and the BBMP Commissioner had responded and registered our complaint," says Malhotra.

"However, there has been no further progress on the complaint and the road is only getting worse by the day," he added.

'Have patience'

P Anand, the BBMP Corporator of HBR Layout, had requested citizens to be patient regarding the completion of the Rs 65-crore pipeline project from GKVK to HBR Layout. "K J George, the MLA of Sarvagnanagar constituency (Hennur is part of the constituency), is going to inspect the area next week and will take steps to speed up the project. This project is for the welfare of the people, so I request everyone to have patience," he added.

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