Kenchanna Halli Road in Rajarajeshwari Nagar, under construction for a long time, has left residents complaining that they face a lot of inconvenience as the work is not done on a regular basis.
“The work is going on for months now. The entire road is dug up and most of the days it is not carried out. Forget about the vehicles, sometimes it becomes difficult to even walk on the road,” Shambhulingappa BG, who lives close to the road, informed The Observer.
The Observer found the road in a miserable condition. Drivers of heavy vehicles had a tough time navigating it. People were seen folding up their trousers while walking on the slushy road after rain.
Shopkeepers in the area said they are incurring losses because of the traffic congestion and chaos on the road.
Mehmood, another resident said: “There were a lot of potholes on the road. I think that is why the construction was started. It has been months and the work is not progressing. Most of the road is dug up, allowing no vehicle to pass. The situation is worse during the monsoon season. Residents complain to BBMP workers, but they seem to take no action.”
BBMP chief engineer for road infrastructure S. Somashekara said: “Maintenance is done by the area chief engineer; he can inform you.”
Vishvanath AE, the chief engineer responsible for the construction and inspection of roads in the area, said: “There are various reasons for the work not being carried on a regular basis — like funding. The Kenchanna Halli main road was dug up by the BWSSB for a water pipeline issue. Therefore, until the water pipeline issue is resolved, we cannot complete the road. Hence, it is taking time. We are focusing on completing the main road, where traffic is heavy. Then we will go towards the residential area. We are currently focusing on filling up potholes as we don’t want further inconvenience.”
According to a Hindu article, “Lack of coordination between agencies, including private telecom companies and Internet service providers, is often the culprit for poor and unmotorable stretches of roads across the city. In the past, residents’ welfare associations and motorists have highlighted perfectly good roads that were dug up for utility and development works only to be badly restored. In an attempt to address this perennial problem, BBMP has decided to increase the security deposit that agencies and firms have to give at the time permission is accorded for road cutting.”
Dr V Ramesh, head of the civil engineering department, Rajarajeshwari College of Engineering, said: “There is a lack of coordination among various government bodies. One doesn’t have any idea of what the other one is doing. Permissions are required from various organisations before the construction of a road. Often, roads are not made with concrete. One monsoon is all it takes to wash off a road. You find potholes again. Government bodies need to interact with each other more often.”
The Karnataka High Court has declared that it is the fundamental right of the people to have good and safe roads.
