No end in sight to misery of Bannerghatta road users

A stretch of the Bannerghatta "Road"

No end in sight to misery of Bannerghatta road users
Deccan Herald

When over 6,000 top brand managers from Asia descend on the prestigious Indian Institute of Management (IIM), Bangalore, next month, they would do well to find a “management” solution to the Bannerghatta Road project.

For, though the State Public Works Department (PWD) took up the four-laning project at a cost of over Rs 4 crore nearly one year back, it hasn’t been able to even begin the project so far.

Irked by the deteriorating condition of the Bannerghatta Road, IIM-B students and IT professionals from top corporate companies blocked the traffic for many hours on Monday.

However, this may not help much — it would take at least a year before PWD could complete the vexed project. Till then, Bannerghatta Road users may have to use the road the way it is.

In fact, IIM-B students hit the road to wake up PWD from the slumber and upgrade the road for the Asia’s biggest management meet to be held from November 5 to 7. Over 6,000 students from management schools across Asia are expected to participate in the event, according to Shiv Prahim Chowdri, President of Forum for Industrial Interaction (of IIM-B).

The PWD took up the project to convert the existing two-lane road for nearly 4 km — between Outer Ring Road and Meenakshi Temple — into a four-lane one in January, 2004, under ‘public-private partnership’.

As per the agreement, PWD would construct the road, while Mantri Associates (the private partner) would lay footpaths, develop medians and take up beautification.
But the project hit a roadblock even before PWD could begin its work.

None of the utility providers — BWSSB, Bescom, BSNL and Bommanahalli CMC — has so far extended their services to the project. “We informed them about the project well in advance. But they are yet to complete their part of the work,” PWD officials told Deccan Herald.

The Forest Department has, on the other hand, denied approval for cutting down some trees. Of the estimated 76 trees that were to be axed to make way for the project, only 20 have been cut so far, sources said.

While BWSSB has left its digging work half way through, citing the recent rains as an excuse, BSNL and Bescom have just recently begun digging the road to shift their service cables and power poles. And BMP and Bommanahalli CMC have, on their part, failed to clear encroachments on a storm-water drain near Bilekhalli. “Unless these encroachments are cleared, the road work cannot be undertaken,” officials said.

As the drain gets clogged, rain water flows on to the road, which is the lowest point in the area.

Owing to this, the entire stretch of the road here has been washed away.
However, PWD Chief Engineer Muninarasimha Swamy said the project would be commenced in a week’s time and directions had been issued to all utility providers to complete their work soon.

“There were several problems for the commencement of the project. All of them are sorted out now and the four-laning will be completed at the earliest,” he added.

‘Inhospitable’ road

The super-specialty Sagar Apollo Hospital on Bannerghatta Road has announced that it will soon join the campaign for road upgradation.

“Our ambulances take a long time in reaching the hospital. The patients are facing a major problem everyday. The whole point of having a hi-tech hospital in this location is lost,” said hospital’s Director (Business Strategy) Janardhan R.