Tech hub or tractor trail? Panathur’s dirt track goes viral; residents vent ire

Bengaluru: The Panathur road is back in the news after a video of the residents commuting to work through a road that looks more like riders are off-roading has gone viral. The corporation officials were trolled online for doing nothing to fix the crumbling infrastructure. 

The Panathur road is currently being white-topped and the road project that was approved 10 years ago is yet to begin and the residents are currently commuting through Croma Road which is under the jurisdiction of the department of railways. 

It can be seen in the video that the commuters were riding an trying to negotiate a sloppy area between the bushes and slush-ridden stretches. 

The enraged residents rued that the road has been taken up for white-topping, without making arrangements for an alternative route. Shwetha Rangaswamy, resident of the locality and member of the Individual Tax Payers’ Forum, said, “The lack of coordination between the corporation and railway department has pushed us into this sad state of affairs. Riding here is risky.” Another resident said, “It is thoughtless to take up work that would take time and block the entire road without arranging for an alternative route.”

Sharing his thoughts, Maheshwar Rao, GBA Chief Commissioner, said, "The works on the Panathur Balagere Road will be completed within the next 15 days. The road will be of high quality and when completed it will provide a big relief to residents and commuters in the area.”

Speaking to DH, GBA Additional Commissioner for East Snehal Lokhande Sudhakar, said, “Our Commissioner has spoken to the Railway Department. We do not have the authority to do any work on their land. Once we have the approval we will work on it.”