BENGALURU: While most of Bengaluru reels under traffic disruptions exacerbated by rainfall, the streets of Chamarajpet present a deeper hell beneath the street level. Parallel roads near the vicinity of Uma theatre are dug up and unusable, due to maintenance of underground sewage lines and white-topping, resulting in inconvenience and even death.
There is a messy expanse while driving down Bull Temple Road. Excavators occupy the entire breadth of streets and roads, having dug up chasms that render the paths unusable for vehicles, and barely usable for pedestrians.
The parallel roads — from 1st Main to 5th Main — tell the same story. While these two roads bear the majority of the brunt, the ones in the middle suffer disruptions as well. If buses are added to the chaos, movement comes to a complete halt. All of this has been going on for months. Rakesh Jain, manager at Arrham Lights ‘N’ Beyond, a store for lighting and construction solutions on 5th Main Road, says the road has been closed for two-and-half months, and there is no clarity or any indication of work drawing to a close.
Business is not the only thing that has been hit, with an approximately 70 per cent drop in footfall. “Many people have fallen and suffered fractures, including my cousin. A little girl was killed while riding pillion with her mother. She came under a BMTC bus after the rider swerved to avoid construction debris,” he rues.
Tejaswini R, principal at LRHS Central School on 6th Cross, 5th Main Road, says they had to demolish and remake part of the school compound as a school vehicle, a four-wheeler, was completely blocked by cinder blocks left by the builders. “This has been going on for four months. We have contacted BBMP many times, but they pay no heed. This is not an issue of inconvenience, but also safety and hygiene. A Class 3 girl was injured after she met with an accident while coming to school on a two-wheeler. They opened one of the manholes and didn’t seal it back; we had to conduct classes amid a putrid stench for two days,” she said.