Bengaluru: End of the road for peace here!

Bengaluru: The 9th Main Road Road at Subramanyanagar has seen multiple development works and upgrades over the last three years. And this shows no signs of ending. Residents are angry with two aspects – one, the repeated digging and covering up of the road and two, the possibility of the concrete road collapsing.

“Officials are doing everything for the sake of doing it. This road was dug up multiple times, for footpath, sanitary line and now concreting. The tender states that the concrete has to be 4-inch thick on the sides, but we see it is just one inch. It will break easily,” said a frustrated Bhaskar, from Subramanyanagar ward.

The road he refers to is the 9th Main, a small inner street within Milk Colony, Subramanyanagar. Currently unusable, the road has hay strewn all over the concrete for curing. Previously, it has seen multiple development works and upgrades, which don’t seem to end.

Residents are angry with two aspects – one, the repeated digging and covering up of the road and two, the possibility of concrete road giving away.

“This is the tax payers’ money that is being misused. They dug up the road six months ago to lay a footpath, covered the road up and soon after, dug it up again for laying a BWSSB pipeline. A month ago, they began digging again for laying concrete! When does it end,” asked Nandish, another resident.

Nandish and others, who want a better road, are helping the civic workers in curing the stretch and have been pouring bucketfuls of water on the road.

“All of us throw water so that the concrete becomes strong as this road is used by heavy vehicles. It is a heavy traffic zone as it is a connecting road for motorists from Malleswaram and Rajajinagar. Since the construction started a month ago, we have been parking our vehicles on other lanes,” said Rajesh.

The residents complained of dust on the stretch and women said that many children have dust allergies.

Also, layers of dust gathered on their furniture and utensils, they complained.

The residents are unhappy with the quality of previous works and have low expectations of anything new.

“The drains have been open for years with missing slabs. After we made a noise about it, they began laying slabs but never completed it. If a child falls into it while playing, they will be washed away ending up in the Raja Kaluve of Prakashnagar,” Bhaskar said, painting a vivid and unpleasant picture.

A resident, on condition of anonymity, said that the road has seen repairs every summer for the last three years.

The new footpath gave away in just two months, he pointed out.

“The road used to be 20-feet wide, but it is now only 10 feet wide. Every time it rains, water gets blocked. The drains are not properly connected to the main line,” said Nalina, adding that a concrete road could only make matters worse.

‘We’ll open the road for public in 3 days’
Interview with Manjunath, Corporator, Subramanyanagar Ward
Why is it taking so long to complete works on the 9th Main Road?
There was a delay initially, as no contractor took the work order. We personally requested them to do the job. The entire road had to be dug up. In the estimate, only 30 % of the road was to be repaired, that is, few potholes had to be filled. We decided to redo the whole road instead.

Residents say the road has been dug up multiple times. Why?
The footpath laying work came under PoW (Programme of Works). The concrete road has received funds under the Nagarottana Scheme. The footpath was never damaged for the road work. For the sanitary line repair, just replastering was done and the road was not dug up much for that.

What is the next step?
The concrete work is done. Curing is going on, for which we have put hay all over the road to absorb the water. In two-three days, we will open the road for public use.