Bengaluru: Thanisandra Main Road got a concrete top only about four years ago. Residents of the densely populated pockets that line the stretch grinned and bore all the inconvenience the work entailed, trusting the BBMP‘s promise that the road wouldn’t have to be dug up for another 15-20 years. However, it has just been dug up at multiple spots.
The biggest of these is opposite Sobha City apartments. Heavy pipelines on the footpath are proof of some work being undertaken at the spot. Locals said heavy machines work on the road at night, and by morning, the dug-up area is covered with mud and gravel. At two other spots, a chunk of concrete layer was removed and subsequently covered with mud or an uneven mix of gravel and cement.
But this isn’t the first time the road has been dug up. Over the past two years, at multiple junctions between Hegde Nagar and Chokkanahalli, the concrete has been cut across the road — several inches wide — presumably to lay pipes or wires. Since these have not been covered, or have been poorly covered, two-wheelers, in particular, hit the concrete edges with an impact far worse than on asphalted roads.
And then, there’s an ugly spot near the Bharat Petroleum bunk. TOI found at least three concrete patches had been removed and replaced with fresh concrete. The fresh concrete patch is at a lower level than the rest of the road, and according to locals, it is a cause of frequent accidents.
Locals said there would be a few minor accidents near the patch every day. A tender coconut vendor, who has his shop near it, said the road was dug up a few months ago.
Mubarak Khan, a chicken shop owner, said he has his shop open for at least 10 hours and sees at least five people falling because of this patch. “The new layer is the same colour as the rest of the road but is a bit deeper. So it is very tough for two-wheeler riders…”
Narayan Muguveera, manager of Krishna Cafe located next to the dug-up spot, said, “When the road was concretised, BBMP assured us that it would not be untouched for at least 15 years…but now it is not even five years and they have already dug up the road. They dig up and close again and again. There is no accountability. We don’t even know when the work will be completed. Footpaths are filled with mud, leading to dust, and it is difficult for our customers to dine here.”
Officials of BBMP’s projects division, which concretised the road, said they had handed over maintenance of the road to the road infrastructure (RI) department two years after completing the project. An official of the projects department said a heavy water pipeline runs under the concrete road, and BWSSB digs up the road to fix its issues. Asked why an old pipe was left underneath such an expensive road, the official said they were in a hurry to finish it in time for an Aero India show that year, as it is an alternative road to the airport.
BBMP chief engineer BS Prahalad told TOI, “We did promise that the white-topped roads wouldn’t be touched for a few years, but sometimes uncertainties happen and we might have to cut the road at some places. I am not aware of what work is happening there right now…but I will ensure the work gets done as soon as possible, and the cut road is restored immediately.”