BENGALURU: Faced with a barrage of complaints from industrialists on the problems faced while commuting on the city’s roads due to digging works for civic infrastructure works as well as ongoing white topping works, Bangalore Water Supply and Sewerage Board (BWSSB) Chairman Tushar Girinath said the pain will continue for 10 more years. Taking part in an interact ive session with members of the Bangalore Chamber of Industry and Commerce (BCIC) along with Mayor Goutham Kumar, Girinath said roads were the only right of way for all utility agencies. “The city lost a synchronous pattern of growth long ago. It is very difficult to take up infrastructure works as we have already lost 10-20 years when we should have put everything in place,” he said. The incremental planning being done over the years has resulted in the city lagging behind, he added.
‘Compared to other cities, quality of our construction not up to the mark’
“The pain being presently experienced by citizens will continue for the next ten years. By expediting our work with more resources and better planning, we can only reduce the pain, but it has to be borne for a better future,” he stressed. Girinath ruled out the common complaint of lack of co-ordination among the utility agencies and said regular co-ordination meetings were being held by the Chief Secretary.
The president of BCIC, Devesh R Agarwal, explained the daily hardships experienced while driving through Koramangala as most roads have been dug up by civic agencies. “A portion of the road near Devi Eye Hospital was dug up to lay a 220 KV cable. But the road has not been restored yet. The 60-ft road, 17th C Main Road, 17th F Main, Koramangala Main Road have all been dug up,” he pointed out. A participant said it was impossible to drive near Silk Board between 6 pm and 9 pm due to the traffic bottlenecks.
Mayor Goutham Kumar said the city’s population has surged to touch 1.3 crore. Insisting that steps were being taken to address problems, he said, “A sum of Rs 500 crore will be spent only for upgrading the Outer Ring Road.” Changes at the Hebbal Flyover were being proposed by the Bangalore Metro Rail Corporation Limited as the Metro airport line will pass over it. Conceding that the public were put to some hardship, Goutham Kumar said they even approached Infosys Foundation chairperson Sudha Murty to invest Rs 200 crore in the Hebbal flyover project. “Compared to other cities, the quality of our construction is not up to the mark,” Kumar added.
The BWSSB chairman also called upon BCIC to goad all industries under its fold to take steps to ensure that industrial effluents do not pollute manholes. “Even sewage is being polluted by some industries which let out effluents into some of the 2,50,000 manholes late at night. The colour does not go away even after much treating of the water,” he explained.