‘Enough of delays’: Malleswaram residents stage peaceful 'Saaku Walk' over unfinished roadwork, damaged footpaths

Bengaluru: Malleswaram residents conducted a peaceful “Saaku Walk” on Sunday, calling for accountability of civic agencies and rapid completion of the long-delayed white-topping of 8th Main Road that people say had disrupted life for 18 months.

Donning black t-shirts, residents and civic volunteers, under the banner of Malleswaram Social, walked along the affected stretch at 8 am.

The word “Saaku”, meaning 'enough' in Kannada, symbolised what they termed the growing frustration over unfinished roadwork, damaged footpaths, and the prolonged inconvenience the neighbourhood has been enduring.

The delay has hit local businesses that witnessed dwindling footfall for several months.

Residents raised safety concerns over diversion of the BMTC's Route 90E through narrow residential roads near a high school after parts of the main road was barricaded for construction.

Preeti Sunderajan, a resident of the area, said citizens were merely demanding “accountability, urgency and basic dignity in public infrastructure".

She noted that residents had endured months of dust, unsafe roads and inaccessible homes while authorities failed to complete the work within a reasonable timeframe.

Residents insisted that the protest was non-political aimed only at voicing public grievances, while demanding completion of the white-topping project in a timebound manner.