The Hindu : Karnataka / Bangalore News : Angry traders take to streets

Online edition of India's National Newspaper
Thursday, May 19, 2005

Karnataka

Karnataka - Bangalore

Angry traders take to streets

Special Correspondent

Banasawadi Main Road in pathetic condition; customers turning away from shops "We have taken up the issue of bad roads with legislators, councillors and Ministers. We got lots of promises but no action."

ON WAR PATH: Traders in Banasawadi taking out a protest march against bad roads in Bangalore on Wednesday. — Photo: V. Sreenivasa Murthy

BANGALORE: Residents of Banasawadi, including a large number of traders, took to the streets on Wednesday.

The cause for protest: A stretch of the Banasawadi Main Road under the overpass has not been resurfaced.

Manjunath, who led the protests, said the traders have been put to hardship because fewer people go the shops on the treacherous Banasawadi Road.

Madhavan, owner of a bookstall, who took part in the protests, said all shops were closed from 9 a.m. to 11 a.m. when the road was blocked.

"The authorities concerned appear to have learned about our protest and suddenly this morning two road rollers and other road building equipment arrived on the scene. We don't know why they were not sent all these months," he said.

Kempe Gowda, who runs a medical store, said: "We thought business will pick up after the overpass is completed, but the bad road has not improved matters.

"We have taken up the issue with the BMP and everybody else from the local legislators and councillors to ministers. We got lots of promises but no action."

Housewives of the area complained that the dust kicked up by traffic all through the day meant they had to keep cleaning their homes. "May of our children now suffer from dust allergy," they said.

While the Banasawadi Main Road is difficult for most two-wheelers to drive on, it has become dangerous for pedestrians. Huge craters on the road have not helped matters.

Rajesh, a general store owner, said: "What we need now is for the road to be repaired and resurfaced immediately and this has to happen fast because the monsoon is round the corner. We hope the road rollers which arrived this morning will not be sent back tomorrow."

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