100-ft road shrinks to 18 ft, thanks to encroachment

100-ft road shrinks to 18 ft, thanks to encroachment
Times of India

Bangalore: The once-100 ft road in Indiranagar has now been reduced to a mere 18 ft, thanks to encroachers and the government’s apathy. Despite a high court order to clear the encroachments and an NGO’s relentless battle for over seven years on the issue, there has been no progress.

The Bangalore-Varthur major district road, which runs from Old Madras Road to Varthur via C.V. Raman Nagar and Kaggadasapura, has been encroached upon by multi-storied buildings which have come up on the road. The stretch is maintained by the PWD and the area falls under the C.V. Raman Nagar ward of BCC.

In 1997, the People’s Welfare Association had moved the high court, which directed the authorities to remove the encroachments. The PWD conducted a survey and found 97 encroachments, listed names of the builders and sent a report to the deputy commissioner, Bangalore Urban, to initiate action.

However, the file was sent back to the PWD stating that since the road is maintained by the department, the encroachments have to be removed by the same organisation. That was the end of the matter.

According to N.M. Subbaiah, secretary of the welfare association, a meeting was called by the transport department in August this year where a decision was taken to inspect the road. However, after the inspection, the contents of the report were not made public.

“Everyone seem to be passing the buck — the PWD, BCC and the police. When we petitioned to the HC, only compounds and sheds had come up on the road. Over the last seven years, however, multi-storied buildings have been constructed all along the stretch in connivance with the authorities,’’ Subbaiah maintained.

Now, disgusted with the government’s apathy and non-execution of the HC order, Subbaiah has decided to re-open the case.