BENGALURU: Residents of 9th Main Road in Hosakerehalli had to take the ‘high road’ this Deepavali thanks to the Bruhat Bengaluru Mahanagara Palike (BBMP). The residents had to burst crackers on the terrace of their homes as the roads were riddled with potholes.
Hosakerehalli in South Bengaluru is a popular residential area. The narrow roads measure about 40ft. Like most Bengaluru roads, the roads here are in very bad shape. The 9th Main Road near Raghavendra Swamy Mutt has around 35 houses.
Earlier, this road was not this bad and was manageable. However, last year, the BWSSB authorities dug up the road for laying a pipe. Once the work was done, they did a botched-up job of covering the road. The rains in August and September only made things worse. The innumerable complaints of the residents were in vain as all they did was run from pillar to post, from the BBMP to BWSSB. Neither the ward engineer nor the ward Councillor did anything . It was a nightmare for many. A few senior citizens and motorists have fallen on these roads and injured themselves.
Ravi, one of the residents, told The New Sunday Express that the road is uneven and not ideal for bursting crackers. “We do not know where we will fall while bursting firecrackers. So we chose to celebrate on the terrace. We played with sparklers and other fireworks. We did not burst firecrackers as it won’t be safe on the terrace,’’ he said.
Another resident, who did not want to be named, said they launched rockets from their terrace. “The uneven road could make the bottle fall and it may ricochet off something inviting danger. We did not want to take a risk and therefore we chose the terrace,’’ the resident said.
Some residents took fireworks and went to their relatives’ houses away from the ward to celebrate.
Hosakerehalli ward Councillor Rajeshwari Cholaraj said that a tender has been floated to pour concrete on three roads in their ward - the 6th, 8th and 9th Main road. “There is some confusion between BBMP officials and contractors which will soon be sorted out. The concreting of roads will start in the next ten days,’’ she said. Upon pointing out the innumerable potholes, she said it was pointless to waste wet mix to fill potholes when a new road is being laid.