Businesses bleed as digging work takes its toll on SJP Road

Traders on MRR lane on SJP Road, which is mostly a hardware hub, have lost almost 80% of their business after the roads right in front of their shops were dug up for laying concrete.

The road work began four days ago but the traders say that they were not informed by the civic agencies involved in the digging that such a work would be carried out on this stretch.

The unannounced work has also resulted in the loss of electricity in a few of the buildings. “The roads were dug up last Wednesday. Nobody informed us about it. The workers said that they are relaying the road. Now, there is hardly any space to walk or for vehicle movement. We have lost 80% of our business,” said T Abdulla, a hardware store owner.

The digging of the roads also snapped electric cables, rendering some of the buildings without electricity.

“There has been no power in our building for three days. We complained to Bescom about the outage and they said they will fix it, but nothing has been done till now,” said Shakeer, a stationery shop owner.

The work is being undertaken at night so as not to disrupt traffic movement in the morning, but traders claim that the work itself has resulted in traffic problems.

“Roads are dug up on all sides. Customers cannot enter the shops at all,” said Saleem, another trader.

No major complaints, say police

Bangalore Traffic Police (BTP) officials said that they have not received any major complaints from traders about the traffic problems.

P Rajeev, Chief Engineer, Bruhat Bengaluru Mahanagara Palike (BBMP), South Zone, confirmed to DH that the civic body is currently laying concrete on the roads and the work will soon be finished.

“Maybe some traders were not aware but our workers had informed about the work. It will get over in one night. There was a slight delay because there were some cables under the road. We have also coordinated with Bescom to restore power as soon as possible,” he said.

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