BENGALURU: “We don’t drive on roads, we hop around potholes”, “We want basic infra, not daily adventure.” These are some of the quotes from the letters written by schoolchildren to Deputy Chief Minister (DCM) and Bengaluru Development Minister DK Shivakumar over pothole-filled roads and bad traffic leading to frustration and reaching school late.
Some of the children from Carmelaram, Gunjurpalya and Chikkabellandur in Mahadevapura assembly constituency have started a ‘Letter Campaign’ to get the issue addressed. The children and officers from the surrounding areas get stuck in traffic for 1.5 hours during morning and evening peak hours daily, prompting them to write to the DCM.
Jose Thazathuveettil, a citizen activist from Carmelaram Unite, said, “The 5-km stretch from Outer Ring Road to Carmelaram takes 1.5 hours to cover due to narrow and poorly maintained roads. The Carmelaram Railway overbridge project has stalled due to land acquisition issues. Several roads in the area are in a state of disrepair, including Gear School Road, AET junction, Carmelaram to Gunjur Road, and Varthur Main Road.
“Due to the bad road conditions, residents of Carmelaram, Gunjurpalya and Chikkabellandur are ensuring their children approach the DCM over the issue to get it fixed. Hence ‘Inland Letter Campaign’ has been launched. Around 100 children from the area have written letters with drawings on bad roads and asking for his intervention,” he said and added, the letters will be posted today (Sunday), and in the next few batches, 100 each will be sent to DCM’s office in Vidhana Soudha. “An online campaign was also launched, and 2,500 signatures have been collected in this regard,” he said.
The frustrated resident also brought the emphasis of the Comprehensive Development Plan Roads proposed to alleviate traffic congestion and said, despite being under the BBMP jurisdiction since 2008, the basic development like good roads, drains, footpath and sewer lines are still a major issue in this part of the state capital.
The residents claimed that, following the series of complaints, the Mahadevapura Zonal Commissioner Ramesh has stated that in 30 days, the stretches mentioned by the residents of Carmelaram, Gunjurpalya and Chikkabellandur will be fixed.
Meanwhile, the bad road stretch that was fixed temporarily by the BM Pristine Residents on Gunjur Road was taken up for repair by the BBMP the next day after the video of the residents fixing the roads using sand and some materials was shared.
“We expected BBMP to do a long-lasting job, but the rains have washed away the fillings and the road is back to the same, with multiple potholes,” he added.