BENGALURU: Agitated by the delay and continuous digging at Avenue Road, Chickpet and surrounding areas, traders have asked Chief Minister Basavaraj Bommai to visit the area and get first-hand information about their plight.
The traders pointed out that after former Chief Minister B S Yediyurappa visited the ongoing road works at Commercial Street and other places, the pace of work had picked up. They are hoping for a similar sort of reaction with Bommai’s visit.
They point out that the pandemic has already hit the business sector as almost 50 per cent of small and large-scale businesses have shut shop over the last few months. “Added to this, the civil and smart city works are creating havoc,” they rued.
The traders further said that Avenue Road is just a kilometre away from the seat of power. “Even during the previous CM’s two rounds of the city, this road was not included in the itinerary. This goes to show that officials do not want to make a fool of themselves in front of the chief minister,” they said.
“Road works and digging have been going on on Avenue Road for about two to three years now. Earlier, it was by BESCOM, then BWSSB and then other agencies. Now, the Smart City works are going on along with white-topping. Though the government has set a deadline, we don’t know whether they will finish it on time or not,” said Subhash L, a trader from Avenue Road. As per the Smart City mission, a deadline of August 25, 2021 was set to complete the work.
Sajjan Raj Mehta, representing traders from Avenue Road and Chickpet, said that not many know that Avenue Road is an important stretch connecting north and south Bengaluru. It is also the main road connecting other commercial trade lanes in the old central business district (CBD) in the vicinity. Bengaluru Central MP P C Mohan, who has been closely working with the government and BBMP to ensure completion of work on time.