Be an acrobat to cross this road

Be an acrobat to cross this road
Deccan Herald

It’s a literal tight-rope walking for those traversing the busy 5th Main Road in Ganganagar. A stormwater drain which has been left open for around a month due to repair work has inconvenienced residents and passersby forcing them to adopt various means to overcome the difficulty — from acrobatics to taking an alternative long route.

One of the stone slabs covering the stormwater drain passing through the 5th Main Road broke and had to be replaced. Instead of replacing just that one, the area Corporator is said to have got all the slabs removed in order to construct a permanent bridge. But what’s interesting is that the project has neither a cost estimate nor a time-frame for completion.

While there are alternate roads like a service road and other alternate routes leading to the other end of the stretch, it is nothing less than acrobatics for people who wish to take the shorter way across the drain. Wooden poles have been placed at the edge across the drain with a rope running through for people to hold on to while crossing.

According to a shopkeeper, two students had fallen into the drain two days ago but had escaped unhurt.

Ganganagar Corporator Jayalakshmi Vijayakumar was not accessible to Deccan Herald on Sunday. But, her husband Vijayakumar spoke on her behalf. According to him, his reply could be considered as her reply.

He said, the stormwater drain, built nearly 34 years ago, needs to be rebuilt. As heavy vehicles pass through the road, a ‘thorough job’ has to be done and hence, the broken stone slab was not replaced. “Neither have we estimated the project cost nor have we set any deadline to complete the work”, he added.