Road to hell!

Perpetual Woes

You could call it the evisceration of the City. There are several roads in the City that have been dug up and left unattended to for months together, on the pretext of massive road widening and other infrastructure projects.

These dug up roads are not only an eyesore but also disrupt the lives of thousands of Bangaloreans. They have inconvenienced the residents and snatched away the businesses of shops and commercial establishments.

These roads also prove as deadly deathtraps at most times. Reflectors are virtually missing on these dug up stretches and chances are high that a commuter would fall into these open ditches.

Metrolife spoke to a few residents who live near these dug up roads and asked them how it affects their routine.

Keshav Habib, a tech lead with Tesco, takes the Hebbal and Kalyan Nagar route to his office everyday. He says it’s nothing less than hell to traverse through this route. Keshav says he has noticed that every second lane in and around Hebbal has a speed-breaker, “Forget the main roads, that are perpetually dug up, even the service roads aren’t there for the vehicles to commute. And a signal light just after every bus stop makes it difficult to move around the City,” says Keshav.

Rahul Vilas Ghodke working with Microland and a resident of HSR Sector-1 says the roads on 27th Main were dug up by the KPTCL for laying cables and pipes. “The work has been unattended to for a long time now. There’s constant water-logging and the garbage that is dumped into these dug up paths adds to the clogging,” explains Rahul.

Rahul has also observed that accidents are a common sight on these roads, especially at night, “I hope the authorities take some steps to complete the work on schedule,” he adds.

Even the shops and commercial establishments located alongside these dug up stretches say that their businesses have been hit by at least 60 per cent. The dirt and dust, as a result of the road work, keep most people from entering the shops. The regulars have no qualms coming but the new customers don’t want to take a chance. Ranganath M L, a store owner on Hennur Main Road says, “The ditches are filled with garbage and this causes water logging and in turn it stinks. The stench is unbearable. Does it take so long for the work on storm water drain to be completed? They have also broken a drainage during their work. This adds to the stench,” says Ranganath.

The BBMP authorities claim that the work has been progressing at a steady pace in several parts of the City. “The road widening work is on at Kasturba Road, Hosur Road and Mysore Road. We first complete the work on the drainage system and only later concentrate on road widening,” says a chief engineer with the BBMP. He says the recent rains did hinder the work for a few days, “we have gathered the pace of work and hope to complete it on schedule,” he sums up.