BENGALURU: Shops are shut, business is down 50% and 400 families face the risk of flooding. All this because of a delay in completing the whitetopping work in HBR 1st Block and Nehru Street in Kammanahalli.
Anand, a resident of Nehru Street at Aravind Nagar, said the 1.5 km stretch was taken up for whitetopping one-and-a-half years ago, but the work is still not complete. “One hotel and six shops were shut, while restaurants have said their business has slumped by 50%. The residents here are also facing issues of allergic reaction due to pollution from the ongoing work,” he complained.
A Ramu, Manager, Madurai Pandi Mess, said his eatery was doing good business for the last five years, but since the work began, chairs are empty at his outlet even at 2 pm. “My hotel saw a 50% slump in daily business since January. Hope the contractors and engineers finish the job early,” he said.
Shopkeepers said some bikers ride on this stretch, risking their lives. Four months ago, a biker allegedly died after slipping and crashing against the material dumped on the site.
Captain Dayalu Arasappa from the Resident Welfare Association, HBR Layout, said that in September 2024, the whitetopping work from Amma’s Pastries Junction to Outer Ring Road in HBR was initiated. “It has been 13 months, but only one side of the road is concretised. Workers have dumped the concrete and scrap next to the storm water drain opposite Kacharakanahalli Lake.
The Footpath work is also pending. “The entrance to houses on the main road have gone down by nearly 2 ft because of the concretisation work. Residents are finding it difficult to enter and exit. The footpath too is above the ground up to two feet, further inconveniencing the residents.
The major stormwater drain too has been clogged because of this work. One moderate to heavy rain, some 400 families living for the last 30-40 years will be inconvenienced,” said Dayalu.
An engineer said the project will be completed next month. “The challenge is that after completing the concrete work for 50-100 metres, the portion has to be cured for 21 days. No heavy vehicular traffic is allowed as the concrete gets damaged. The 1.8 km stretch of Nehru Street will be completed by November-end and traffic will be allowed,” said the engineer.
On HBR Main Road, the engineers have set December as the deadline to the agency to finish the work and threatened to hold back payments. “Our work was delayed by six months because of the work taken up by the BWSSB. Once it completes the work, the levelling and settling alone will take 90 days, and only then can we proceed to take up whitetopping,” said engineers.
