Bengaluru: Close to four weeks since the work of laying BWSSB pipes began on Banaswadi Main Road, now the water and sewage pipes have been laid and the dugout portion all along the road has been closed.
But the side that was dug up and filled, as you travel towards ITC from the IOC flyover, is unusable, uneven and dusty. The dust from the unsurfaced portion chokes residents, shop owners and commuters. But when the road will be resurfaced and made usable remains unclear. It was a month ago that the BSWSSB started digging one side of the road, but the work which was to take about 10 days took three weeks.
Now that the pipes have been laid, the ditch has been closed, but restoration of the road to its original shape is yet to begin. Crushed stones have been laid all along the closed ditch for resurfacing. But there is no relief for commuters who use the narrow road, which is one of the main arterial stretches in the area. Commuters from Banaswadi, OMBR Layout, Ramamurthy Nagar, Horamavu and surrounding areas take this road to reach the city centre and beyond. Only a single lane is operational on the side descending from Banaswadi Flyover and even that is broken for long stretches.
A week before the BWSSB started its work, the IOC flyover was closed for five days for resurfacing. The narrow flyover, a bottleneck in itself, is important as it connects Horamavu, OMBR Layout and Banaswadi commuters not only to ITC and other areas, but also has two branch-offs, one leading MEG Centre and one to Old Madras Road, now renamed Swami Vivekananda Road. The other branch takes you to Kammanahalli. When the authorities will take up resurfacing is not known, though BWSSB Assistant Engineer Suhas said that BWSSB’s share of work is done. Local corporator Kodanda Reddy said that a lot of work is yet to be done and it will take at least two months to resurface the stretch. “Only after the work is finished will the resurfacing be done. The work might take close to two months to complete,” he told Deccan Chronicle.
