Minus footpaths, road is the path for pedestrians

The jurisdictional woes between the BBMP and other civic bodies has left citizens in a state of lurch. While the Palike lays the roads, it is dug up by the BWSSB and BESCOM leaving an impression on commuters that there never existed a road. The problem has been aggravated since monsoon.

Vidayaranyapura Main Road is a prime example of such a case. It is a typical case of how post civic work, the officials forget to re-lay the road. The main road, which is one of the arterial routes connecting Yelena or M S Palya, was dug up earlier this year by BWSSB to lay a water pipeline.

Although, the work was done in a phased manner to avoid inconvenience it has come to an abrupt halt nearly a month ago.

Result: The entire stretch of over one kilometer has become a nightmare for commuters and pedestrians.

While one end of the road is muddy and uneven since it was dug up, the other side has become a cess pool. The apathy shown by the civic agencies has lead to unnecessary traffic jams and vehicles from both sides have to wriggle through. Footpath have been left uneven and in certain places there is no space for the pedestrians to walk on the road.

Subhash, owner of a textile shop, said that the condition of the road had been like this for the past eight months. “We use bylanes to reach the end of the road faster. What’s worse is dust gathers in the shop the entire day,” he said.

The condition of the roads is no better on the Hessaraghatta Main Road in T Dasarahalli. Both sides of the roads are uneven and on some untarred stretches, gravel roads have become the regular feature for commuters use.

Shopkeepers state that no work has progressed in the last three months. “The gravel have been put to widen the road but the work is very slow. Since there is movement of heavy vehicles, there is a lot of traffic at times,” said Shanmugam owner of condiment shop. The rains have made the matters worse with sides of the roads covered in slush,he adds.

On the Peenya-Yeshwantpur stretch, the Metro work has lead to deterioration of the road. At many places, the top layer of the tarred road has worn out.

Potholes, bottlenecks caused by Metro barricades at various points, the Yeshwantpur station outlet and flow of heavy inter-state vehicles has aggravated the traffic condition with commuters spending at least 45 minutes to cross the stretch.

On the road leading from Mathikere Main Road to Yeshwantpur market, the situation is grave.

Not only is one side of the road uneven after BWSSB having dug up for lying of pipelines, but the vehicles parked on the other side of the already narrow road makes it a taxing for the drivers to use the road. The footpaths having been encroached by hawkers and shops adds to the already crowded road with pedestrians.