Bengaluru: A civic black hole in IT corridor

Bengaluru: ITPL and Whitefield may be household names because of its IT parks and malls, but for civic authorities these areas are of little importance and they pay scant regards to its civic woes. Borewell Road that connects Nallurahalli to Whitefield and ITPL is one such example.

“Six months back the BWSSB dug it up to lay pipes and left it uncovered. It is difficult for motorits to drive over the mud and potholes. We drive very slowly as the path is very uneven. Lot of dust accumulates in our houses and we have to clean our corridors twice a day,” said Srinivas Reddy, a resident. “This area is called silicon valley, but no one is concerned about its development. People avoid the main roads with signals and come through Borewell road to reach their offices in ITPL. In half a year, there will be 2,000 to 3,000 new houses coming up here. The development is not proportionate to the growth,” added Srinivas, who is also part of the ward committee.

This is taking heavy toll on the health of the people, especially children who develop chronic cough, cold due to dust allergies. The residents also point out that the area is accident prone with around 10 fatalities having occurred in just few months. Water tankers are another major factor that adds to the problem. As a short cut they take Borewell Road and futher deteriorate its condition. A year ago the police had imposed certain restrictions on their entry, but they disregard them and ply 24/7," said Dasarathan, another resident. He said that instead of pouring wet mix into potholes, it is being filled with construction debris. When tankers pass through Borewell Road, water spills on to the road and loosen the gravel and they get damaged when heavy vehicles pass, Srinivas explained. While residents said that as it is the road was done poorly by the corporation contractors, but BWSSB digging and poor restoration has only made it worse. The proposed Metro work construction is expected to further increase traffic volumes on Borewell Road. Interestingly, around 50 percent of apartments have relinquished a part of their land for road widening.

BWSSB completed work only 20 days ago: Santosh, assistant engineer, Ward 84, Hagadur

Why is the condition of Borewell Road bad even after BWSSB laid pipes months ago?
The BWSSB finished work only 20 days ago. The restoration work is also done. Wet mix was used but the patch work is yet to be done for the potholes on the road.

The resident say construction debris was used and not the wet mix...
We have used wet mix. We cannot start asphalting immediately. Patch work needs to be done on the potholes and then we will put the asphalt.

Why is it taking so long? Residents say it has been months...
Labourers were earlier working day and night, but now they are working only at night. Residents don’t see this. BWSSB hit upon some hard rock while digging. This took some time and they finished the work only 20 days ago after which, restoration was done. The work is not slow.

What is left and how long will it take?
Major Road Works Department is responsible for laying the road. Funds have been sanctioned. A contractor will be finalised in 20 days. After this, road will be laid in 15 days.