BENGALURU: Frequent falls on the road and constant back pain are daily issues faced by Kanakagiri residents who step out of their homes. The 1.3-km stretch of Banjara Main Road in Kanakagiri, their only connection to Horamavu Main Road, looks like a dirt road, lined throughout with potholes. The recent rain and the consequent slush have compounded their commuting miseries.
This is among the roads dug up by the Bangalore Water Supply and Sewerage Board in connection with its ‘110 villages Cauvery water’ project which aims to provide drinking water and sanitary connections to peripheral areas of the city. BWSSB needs to complete the initial works on the roads it has dug up and then hand it over to the BBMP for restoration.
Senior citizen Kailash Murthy recalled that a 70-year-old resident fell on the road recently and sustained fractures on his left arm. “I also broke my back last year by falling on this stretch from a scooter and was out of action for three months. But I am forced to use a two-wheeler again as using a car will take us at least 25 minutes to reach the main road due to the road condition. It is a big risk I am taking,” he said.
Agreeing with Murthy, Kochu Shankar, another resident, said that riding a bike on this road feels like taking part in a Kambala race. “We have been appealing to the agencies to restore the Banjara Main Road. But there is no response from BWSSB to our pleas to at least fill the potholes. The tender process is stuck due to red tape in the BBMP for many months now,” he said.
Executive Engineer, Waste Water Management, BWSSB, for the 100 villages project, Venugopal, said, “The water board is responsible for backfilling the roads while the BBMP needs to carry out wet mix and asphalting. In the last 1.5 years, we have done the backfilling four times, but the roads get damaged again. We will carry out another round of backfilling shortly.”
Assistant Engineer, BBMP, Ramesh said that the government had on April 29 released Rs 115 crore for restoration of all roads that had been dug up in connection with the 110 villages project. “BBMP had already started work on 120 km of roads in these villages. Tenders will be called in 15 days in connection with the Banjara Main Road. Asphalting work will begin in two months,” he said.