Sewage pipeline work chokes traffic on Magrath Road

Commuters using the bustling Magrath Road stretch from Garuda Mall circle to the IPS officers’ mess have been finding the experience hellish over the past week.

Heaps of mud have been piled on one side of the stretch, while sewage overflows on the other, leaving motorists a thin sliver of passage to ride through.

The BWSSB has dug up the middle of the road to lay new sewage lines, making it precarious for motorists to ride through the place. Bikers creep along the stretch in the fear of catching the sewage water being splashed about or slipping right into the pit.

The crawl has clogged traffic on the other side. Being the artery linking some neighbourhoods of East Bengaluru with the central business district via Old Airport Road, the traffic pile is actually pretty heavy along Magrath Road.

On Monday morning, commuters watched hapless traffic policemen draining the stagnant sewage water as vehicular movement came to a grinding halt.

“Most inner roads of CBD are choked because of the repair work,” said Shankar Poti, a regular commuter on the stretch. “Primrose Road and Magrath Road are vital for commuters to bypass the busy MG Road to get to the Old Airport Road. Already, the repair work on Primrose Road has been going on for the past four months and now, the BWSSB work on Magrath Road is exacerbating the situation. It takes nearly 35 to 40 minutes to cover a mere 400-metre stretch from Mayo Hall to Hosmat Junction,” Poti added.

Local corporator M B Dwarakanath declined to specify a deadline for the work to be completed.

“I inspected the work on Sunday at Magrath Road. Right now, the BWSSB is laying the pipeline. The problem with doing this work is that there is leakage from the existing sewage pipe. It takes a lot of time to drain the leaking water and continue the work,” Dwarakanath said.

Rain is also adding to the problem, though the local officials are working hard to make the road motorable, Dwarakanath said.