Bengaluru: Work on a railway underpass at Horamavu has adversely impacted business in the area. One of the new and burgeoning business areas in east Bengaluru, Horamavu has, over the last decade or so, attracted traders and builders alike in hordes.Horamavu Main Road, however, has now been divided due to the underpass work.The partition has hit businesses along the road, which is divided by railway tracks, each side inaccessible to the other by car.
Pedestrians who want to cross over must risk their life and cross the tracks on foot.Most of these people are parents walking their children to school across the tracks, their hearts in their mouths.If they want to err on the side of caution, their only option is to take longer, more cumbersome diversionary routes. According to Mohan, a chemist in the area, sales have dropped as customers are taking alternate routes via Ramamurthy Nagar and other areas while avoiding the Horamavu main Road. “My sales have dropped since construction work was started on the underpass. With the road cut-off, almost everyone takes diversions”, he says.
Local cigarette and paan shops around the under-construction underpass have also closed down. Ram Manohar Lal, who hails from Bihar, once ran a chai-shop on one side of the underpass.“The closure of this railway gate led to the closure of my shop. I had to find a new spot on the ring road”, he shrugs, trudging down the Horamavu Main Road to his new spot close to the Outer Ring Road.
With about one lakh people, Horamavu is also Bengaluru’s most populated ward and builders have suffered the brunt of this construction work. With their access to Jayanti Nagara and Kalkere cut off, most home buyers are holding their cards close to their chests. Sales have fallen and so have inquiries.
An agent from Sri Siradi Sai Real Estate told Deccan Chronicle, “Real estate and property sales around Jayanti Nagara, and Kalkere have fallen drastically. We can only hope the underpass come up quickly as business has been hit very badly.”
