BENGALURU: The approach roads to five railway stations in Bengaluru are in a sorry state, making commuting to these stations a trying experience for passengers.
Banaswadi, Bangalore East, Nayandahalli, Heeligele and Anekal are stations passengers dread to visit bearing in mind the route to be traversed.
According to railway officials, any work related to roads outside the railway land falls under the control of the BBMP and laying of these roads becomes the civic body’s responsibility.
“We are doing our best to improve each station under the Bangalore Division. But we are helpless when the public complain about the pathetic state of these roads,” said a top railway official.
While all these roads are narrow and badly maintained, the approach road to Nayandahalli railway station stands out in terms of inconvenience, as one has to pass through a bumpy stretch — where no road has been laid yet — and then a slum, a narrow underbridge and a long stretch with bushes on either side before reaching the station.
R Ragini, a homemaker who takes a train to visit main areas in the city, says, “Even auto drivers refuse to ride on this road, forcing us to walk over a kilometre to reach the station.”
Mukundan, a postgraduate student who frequents this station, says he has to be extremely careful while riding his vehicle on the route. “The road passes through a slum area. Why can’t something be done to fix it?” he asks.
While the approach road to Banaswadi railway station has crater-sized potholes, one side of it leading to the Bangalore East station has been taken over by hawkers.
Passenger trains heading from Bengaluru to Hosur and Salem stop at Heelige and Anekal railway stations. The approach roads at both these stations are very narrow, but the Railways is in no mood to improve them. “The roads near these two stations are our responsibility but there is poor passenger traffic here. We don’t see the point,” said a top official.
Apart from these five stations, the approach road to Yeshwantpur station from the Old Market side is congested, while at the upcoming Hoodi Halt station — for which MP P C Mohan has sanctioned `1.76 crore from his MPLAD funds — priority has been given to creating a good approach road in the tenders which had been called for recently.
When asked why these roads cannot be improved soon, K T Nataraj, Chief Engineer, Road Infrastructure, BBMP, says, “We are running low on funds. We are working on roads all over the city in a phased manner. The main roads are being taken care of while zonal engineers will take care of the smaller roads.”
The Railways has not yet approached the BBMP in this connection, he added. “We will talk it out with them in the future,” he told Express
BBMP Executive Engineer of East Division, Kempe Gowda claimed that the roads leading to Banaswadi and Bangalore East were in good shape. “We laid those roads sometime ago. Maybe the BBMP has not carried out the maintenance work. That is what needs to be done,” he said.
The roads near these two stations (Heelige and Anekal) are our responsibility but there is poor passenger traffic here. We don’t see the point in concentrating on them.A top railway official