BENGALURU: It has been over 10 months now since one half of the crucial Vajrahalli 100-ft Main Road in Banashankari VIth Stage was closed for traffic to facilitate pipeline-laying work by the Bangalore Water Supply and Sewerage Board (BWSSB). With traffic on both ways now forced to travel on just half the road and the footpath taken over by encroachments, residents are finding it a nightmare to use the road.
This road running to nearly 8 km connects Kanakapura Road and Mysuru Road via the Turahalli Forest.
V K Srivatsa, secretary of Changemakers of Kanakapura Road, said that work began here in January 2021 for the Cauvery Water Supply Vth Stage project. “With traffic on both sides converging on one half of the road, it is proving extremely tough to commute here. There are no street lights too making it dangerous at nights,” he said.
Vijayan Govindarajan, a resident of Sobha Forest View apartments, said, “The road falls under the Bangalore Development Authority (BDA) which is waiting for BWSSB to complete its work. Because of inordinate slow pace of work, lives are at risk with heavy trucks, lorries, school buses among other vehicles using the road.”
Dr Ajith, president of the apartment owners’ association here, said, “We have 900 flats in our apartment. The 200-metre Rashtrakoota Road leading to the Vajrahalli Road too is in bad shape. People from Rajaji Nagar towards Kanakapura too use the road. It is risky traffic here.”
R Srinivas, Executive Engineer, Cauvery, BWSSB, told TNIE that heavy rain had delayed the completion of the work here. “This entire 100-ft road lies at a lower level and it was flooded for nearly a month due to the rain. We had to remove all the water first. The road will be ready by December or latest by January 2022.”
Stating that pipeline work on the Vajrahalli 100-ft Road was complete for up to 5 km of the road with patches in the middle not completed, Srinivas said that asphalting could be done there. “One km of the road passes through Turahalli Forest and we are yet to get permission from the Forest Department for laying of pipelines there,” he added.