JOIN USTwo of the prominent roads in the City — Church Street and Brigade Road — are in a mess with broken footpaths, huge potholes and garbage strewn here and there. Everyday, one can find a large number of tourists on these roads and most of them are highly critical about the state of these roads. They say they will advise their friends against visiting these places.
William, who hails from the USA, says that the City is beautiful and has some great places to visit but the potholes in these areas leave a bad impression on the tourists. “Bangalore is a great city and the people are very warm but when you see such places in a terrible condition, it really makes us think twice about coming to this place again. Even the main roads in the City have gaping potholes. The footpaths are completely broken and need immediate attention. Nonetheless, I am going to make the most of my trip here, shop and enjoy myself,” he adds.
Church Street is the worst of them all. The street is broken, there is construction waste lying everywhere and the parking spaces have wires hanging all over. The sidewalks on Brigade Road are in a similar state. Many shops discard their waste on the footpaths. The tiles on the sidewalks are either missing or broken.
Rupert and Linda, a couple from England who are travelling across the country, say that it is not just Brigade Road which has potholes and broken sidewalks, the entire City is in a similar condition.
“We went to Lalbagh and various other places too and came across huge potholes everywhere. I don’t see why the administration is ignoring such an important place. In fact, they should beautify it so that more tourists are encouraged to go there. The popularity of these places might go down as tourists like us pass on the message,” says Rupert.
The hawkers in these areas say that on an average, they see more than a thousand foreign tourists coming here. “Right from foreign tourists to foreign students, Brigade Road is a favourite hangout. The pubs and shops here attract many tourists. Brigade Road is better compared to Church Street,” says Mahesh Kumar, a hawker on Brigade Road.
Rahman, a resident of Afghanistan, says that he loves the ambience in Bangalore and especially on Brigade Road, but the broken roads and footpaths often make it difficult for tourists.
“As the whole stretch from MG Road to the end of Brigade Road is an important tourist destination, the government should really think about giving these places a makeover. Cleaning the roads, painting the railings and repairing the footpaths would be good to begin with,” he adds.