Bengaluru: Temple Road that is full of slush, sewage!

Bengaluru: At a time when the entire city is soaked in summer sweat, Arun Kumar’s family on Venugopalaswamy Temple Road in Devarabeesanahalli is finding it tough to deal with an altogether different problem. “I used to complain about the heat. But for the last four days, I have forgotten all about it. Our house reeks of stench,” Kumar rued.

He explained, “A drain close to the compound of my house is blocked and the overflowing drain has clogged even the road. There is no proper sewage network and the entire road smells like an open toilet.”

Apart from those living in the vicinity, the pedestrians are also badly hit, said Kamalamma. She said, “A couple of times in the past week when I walked down the road to buy vegetables, passing vehicle splashed sewage water on me and I had to come back home wet and foul smelling. Does it take so many days to clear a blocked drain?”  

Blaming lackadaisical attitude of the officials for the mess, the residents pointed out that the sludge which was de-silted from the drain a couple of months ago, was left on the road, which is further encroaching upon the space.

“It seems like there is hardly any space left on the road to walk with sludge, overflowing drains and sewage pits on road. We try to question corporator Asha Suresh and her husband comes answering, and each time, he has some excuse. We hoped for some change at least this year, but seems like our hopes went in vain,” Kamalamma added.

To top it all, patch works were carried out on the Venugopalaswamy Temple Road (from Devarabeesanahalli Arch) last year and the roads did not last even six months, Krishna Velu observed.  

“All our complaints end with a false assurance from the officials and corporator. The locality lacks good infrastructure and the least the officials can provide is good roads and maintain drains. Why do we need them if they cannot provide even this?” Velu demanded.

Haven’t got funds to repair roads: Bellandur ward corporator Asha Suresh

A drain has been blocked on Venugopalaswamy Temple Road for the past few days. Why no action has been taken?
I was informed about the blocked drain three days ago. Officials told me that a broken stone is blocking the flow of sewage. I will look into it.

The roads are also in bad condition…
We have to depend on funds from the BBMP to repair the roads. So far, we have not got funds to repair the roads. Now, a work order has been passed and the PWD will relay the roads.

Contractors have lost trust in the BBMP and nobody is coming forward to bid for tenders. We had to wait for a government agency to execute the works.

By when are the works expected to complete?
Considering that works will begin from next week, the roads will be asphalted within three months.