Road to KIA is paved with ineptitude

Two years after it was built, the alternate road connecting the city to KIA remains unfit for use. The road, which begins in Hennur and passes through Chikkagubbi, Bagaluru and Begur, was built to de-congest Hebbal junction. However, drivers are invariably greeted by clouds of dust, caused by constant digging carried out by civic agencies. This includes the laying of a gas pipline and underground water and drain pipes, although BBMP officials (who add that jurisdiction lies with the Public Works Department) say the road will be asphalted and ready for use in three months' time. Team DC reports

Often caught in city traffic, most Bengalureans have no choice but to be patient. But those heading to the Kempegowda International Airport(KIA) cannot afford this virtue and have valid reason to be impatient. While many in east Bengaluru believed their travel time to the airport would be cut after the alternate road to the KIA was opened two years ago, they are still waiting to use it as it’s not yet fully ready to handle the traffic heading to it. Consequently, the Ballari road remains a favourite with those rushing to catch a flight, leaving it as jam-packed with traffic as always.

The alternate road to the KIA that starts from Hennur and touches Kannur, Chikkagubbi, Gedalahalli, Bagaluru and Begur, was expected to decongest the Hebbal junction in particular as it offered air passengers from Bengaluru east a route that entirely avoids it. But two years on and the road still remains unfit for motorists,  filled with potholes and with little streetlighting to offer commuters a comfortable ride. Drivers are often greeted with clouds of dust due to all the digging that has been done on it by the various civic agencies, making travel dangerous on several stretches.

Aware of the mess, the traffic police says it has written several letters to both the public works department and the BBMP to complete the ongoing work on the road to allow commuters to the airport to use it, but it doesn’t seem to have achieved much as yet. “We have been holding meetings with the  officials concerned and requested them to complete the work on the road so that people from the east side of the city can use it to get to the airport.  They have said there are a few pending works to be completed by the various civic departments and the road will be restored once they are done with it,” said a senior traffic police officer.

Ask  BBMP officials and they explain that  several kinds of work are being carried out simultaneously on the stretch such as laying of  a gas pipeline, and underground water and drain pipes. But they assure that the work will be completed soon.   “The road will be asphalted in another three or four months and it will be made user- friendly,” promised one official .

The target is to complete all the digging before the monsoon, so that the rain does not come in the way of the asphalting, according to him. “We had planned to asphalt the road earlier, but one or the other department started digging it up to lay pipelines or cables and  so we have now sought  a report from them giving us a time-frame for the ongoing work.  Based on their response we will asphalt the road and make sure it is not dug up again,” he assured.

The BBMP also claims it is coordinating with the PWD, which has jurisdiction over stretches of the road and has been promised that it will be done with all its work on it soon.

“Once all the work is completed, we will have a meeting with Bescom and the traffic police to see what measures can be taken to make the road user- friendly and safe. But even now the road is not completely in bad shape. Vehicles are still using it except on the bad patches where the work is underway.  We have also asked the Bescom to fix the streetlights,” said an official.

Alternate road will cut travel time, fix it soon, say users
Most commuters, who dare to use the alternate road to the Kempegowda International Airport (KIA), swear not to do so again, complaining of the absence of speedbreakers , proper medians, and streetlights.

Says Ms Poornima Sen, a techie and a resident of Kalyan Nagar, “Once the alternate road was opened along with the Hennur flyover, we assumed  it would help people  living in this part of the city, as it would cut down the distance to the airport and also be less crowded. But now, looking at the condition of the road, we would rather go through Hebbal, as it is safer.”

Complaining that the road from Gedalahalli to Bagalur is narrow and  dug up, she notes that only a few of the streetlights function, leaving the road in darkness after sunset. “It is time that the departments concerned finished  their work and made the roads usable,” she implores.

Mr Mohan Prasad of Bagalur feels the alternate road to the airport is useless as of now with so much work underway on it, and several stretches in poor condition. “At least earlier, when it was newly opened, the cabs would use it, but now even they avoid it,” he observes.

The only silver lining, according to him, is that all the digging  for various civic projects is being done simultaneously. “We can only hope that they finish it once for all and not dig  up the road again for the next ten years. We just want the bad patches to be restored,” he says.

As he rightly observed, cab drivers avoid the potholed road and confess they don’t want  to risk damaging their vehicles by driving on it.  Says a cab driver, Kumar, “We were happy that the new road was built, but now looking at its condition, we would rather not use it as it could leave our vehicles  damaged.”

In his view, if the road is restored and its streetlights are fixed, people will begin to use it more to get to the airport. “As it will cut down the distance and travel time , over 40 per cent of air passengers will prefer it to the Ballari road,” he maintains.