JOIN USCity roads bear brunt of development
As per the information from the Traffic Police, at least 35 arterial roads in Bangalore have either been partially closed or completely shut down owing to development projects of one agency or the other.
The work on these roads has also choked around 150 traffic junctions in the City. Be it R V Road in south Bangalore or Mysore Soap Factory Road in the north, stretches across Bangalore have been dug up, leaving vehicles stranded for hours together.
Ironically, the work on the road is said to be for the benefit of citizens. The extent of the chaos is such that as many as six major roads in south Bangalore within a radius of two kilometres have been dug up either for Metro construction or for Bruhat Bangalore Mahanagara Palike (BBMP) projects.
Further round up goes thus. Movement through the Kadarenahalli underpass has been stalled for the last 36 months, another underpass at Puttenahalli has remained dug up for the last 42 months and the stretch along Tagore circle has been excavated for yet another underpass and left incomplete for almost an year by the BBMP.
The ambitious Metro has also eaten up space on Kanakpura road, R V Road and the National College road, barring entry of vehicles in several of the City stretches.
At the other end of the town, the NGEF stretch along Old Madras Road has shutdown on account of a Metro station coming up in the area. Of the 35 arterial roads, five have been partially closed due to BWSSB works, 10 due to Metro construction, seven due to BDA activities, eight due to BBMP projects, three due to KPTCL and two due to NHAI projects.
Work on five of these roads is nearing completion. A reason for the mess is said to be the callousness of civic agencies. “We are looking at a very grim situation with more roads expected to be dug up in the next few months without a clear picture on who will restore the roads,” a source said.
Some of the projects to be undertaken include a BWSSB repair work in front of Nimhans, three underpasses project between Forum Mall and Madivala underpass and widening of a Storm Water Drain near Shanthinagar bus stand.