BENGALURU: The BBMP’s action in patching up a road in Varthur following a two-wheeler accident in which a five-year-old girl bled profusely from a forehead cut on Wednesday and her mother and brother suffered abrasions, has not gone well with local residents. The fall was reportedly due to poor road maintenance and the patchwork was done hastily, they said. Only when there is a serious injury, any action is taken, they rued.
Ravishankar Guntur, a resident of Old Whitefield, takes the Doddanekundi flyover to reach Whitefield Main Road every day. “Every 20 to 30 metres, the road has been dug up and left without being restored. At night, this is a hazard because they are not visible. There was some manhole work that was happening around the area and that has also been abandoned without any demarcation,” he said. Ravishankar had made numerous complaints through BBMP’s Sahaaya app, none of which got any response from the officials.
Abhilash W R, who started Belathur Rising, currently drives a fellow resident to work every day because the latter broke his shoulder while travelling on a two-wheeler. “I attend the ward committee meetings regularly and also use the app, but the response has been abysmal. In fact, they called me about a week ago for a complaint I had filed one year ago!” he said.
According to Jagadish Reddy, who heads Varthur Rising, bad roads are a common problem. “I have heard that they have suspended the engineer who was in charge,” he said. In response to the various concerns raised by citizens, BBMP commissioner B H Anil Kumar said, “The current state of roads is because of drinking water and UGD connections being laid by BWSSB.
The Board must do a little restoration and speed up the process. After this settles, we will be able to do quality restoration work. If we carry out work on a road without the restoration work settling, it will not last. We have also taken action against the engineer” he said. Mayor Gangambike said that four engineers have been fined Rs 5,000 each and the engineer overseeing Varthur-Gunjur main road has been suspended. “Disciplinary action will follow,” she said.