Bengaluru: ‘Nothing new’, dejected Chickpet & Sultanpet residents resign to bad roads

Bengaluru: Broken roads, leaking sewage and garbage piles — that is the state of the city’s oldest business hubs Chickpet and Sultanpet.

Asphalted roads have cracks, potholes, leaking sewage, or are missing altogether in some stretches.

Ibrahim, a steel vessels vendor on AS Char Street opposite the metro station, said a blocked drain up the road near the Mysuru Road flyover allowed sewage to overflow and run towards his shop.

"The drains are blocked till here. From this point, the drains work properly, so the overflowing sewage goes back into them,” he said.

Though BWSSB officials respond to complaints and fix the issue, the leak starts again in 30 minutes. People are sprayed with sewage water when vehicles speed on this road, and many fall sick because of the sewage seepage, Ibrahim said.

A juice vendor said the sewage stench and dug-up footpaths had driven customers away.

In Sultanpet, roads that were dug up for white-topping months ago remain incomplete.

A shopkeeper at Ashirwad Card Creations, a wedding card business, said things barely changed. “What is new about this? It is Bengaluru, we have bad roads,” he remarked, adding that the potholes were so large that they posed a danger to riders.

Vishnu, who runs a craft paper shop, said only part of the road had been white-topped. “Officials said the remaining work will be done soon,” he said.

Chickpet MLA Uday Garudachar blamed the problem on “shoddy” contractor work. “The contractors do only half the job and then raise issues that halt progress,” he told DH.

He said he had taken up the issue with the authorities and promised that the roads in Sultanpet would be fixed soon.

Overflowing sewage adds to woes on AS Char Street Chickpet. DH PHOTO/Shraddha AK

On the sewage problem, the MLA accused the BWSSB of “careless” work. “The problem starts at the grassroots level. Whenever they take up repairs, they delay them citing lack of grants,” he said.

A BWSSB assistant executive engineer blamed residents for flushing down non-sewage items. “The sewage line is made to hold only sewage, not clothes or Dalda. When restaurants discard Dalda, it hardens in the drains,” he said, adding that two new pipelines would soon be laid before white-topping resumes.