The Hindu : Karnataka / Bangalore News : A road with many landmarks and irritants

Online edition of India's National Newspaper
Saturday, Jul 24, 2004

Karnataka

Karnataka - Bangalore

A road with many landmarks and irritants

By Afshan Yasmeen

A stretch of Bannerghatta Road. To clear up this mess, the Public Works Department has to improve coordination with four agencies — BESCOM, BWSSB, BSNL, and the Department of Forests. — Photo: K. Bhagya Prakash

BANGALORE, JULY 23. This road leads to one of the best national parks in the State. It has, on both sides, several information technology companies. The prestigious Indian Institute of Management (IIM) and the Jayadeva Institute of Cardiology are also located on the road. Yet, it is in poor condition and poses a hazard to those who use it.

Stretching for kilometres, Bannerghatta Road has not been asphalted and is a nightmare for motorists. It has always been a narrow `kuchcha' (mud) road, which becomes flooded and slushy during the rainy season. It is dusty in summer.

Because of the inadequate storm water drains and poor traffic management, it inflicts miseries on people living on either side. Lack of coordination between the service providers and poor planning by the authorities have led to the poor condition of the road, according to residents.

Flyover construction

A flyover is being construction near Dairy Circle, and the condition of the road has worsened in the past few months. While one stretch of the road has been closed, mud-and-stone paths make up several other stretches.

And, because of the dust, several eateries and small business establishments have closed shop. While the Bangalore Mahanagara Palike (BMP) says the stretch beyond the Ring Road junction comes under the jurisdiction of the Public Works Department (PWD), the PWD authorities blame the Bangalore Electricity Supply Company (BESCOM), Bharat Sanchar Nigam Limited and the Bangalore Water Supply and Sewerage Board (BWSSB) for the condition of the road.

K. Babu and Mujeeb Ahmed, who used to run tea stalls on the roadside, are jobless for the past few months. "If this road is famous for the IIM and the IT companies, it is also notorious for its problems. In fact, it has a sample of everything bad that is found in other parts of the city," Gnanesh Murthy, who lives in the area, says.

Another problem faced by the residents further down the road is congestion and the presence of small village markets.

The road is crowded in places where hawkers spread their wares, and there are traffic snarls.

"These are dangerous stretches. With buses and trucks speeding along the way, there have been quite a few accidents, some of them fatal," Mr. Murthy says.

According to the jurisdictional PWD Superintending Engineer, M.B. Burgi, the road is being widened up to 4 km, from the J.P. Nagar Ring Road to the Meenakshi Temple. "We are building a four-lane road and upgrading it through a people's participation programme at a cost of over Rs. 4 crores. Private builders and IT companies are contributing over 40 per cent of the funds required, he says. "While BESCOM is laying new lines, BSNL is taking out the old cables. The BWSSB is shifting the sanitary lines. Although we deposited Rs. 6 lakhs with the Department of Forests three months ago for cutting the trees to widen the road, it is yet to start the work," he says. "We can complete upgrading of the road within a month if these agencies clear the obstructions at the earliest," he adds.

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