Avoiding craters may cost lives here

Avoiding craters may cost lives here
Vijay Times

IF a list of the most unmotorable roads in the City is made, this road is sure to figure in it. The Nagawara Main Road, which leads to the Outer Ring Road, is one stretch that motorists would prefer to avoid, given an option.

Crossing this three-km stretch requires quite an effort, especially if one is on a two-wheeler . This road, like most other roads in the City , is full of crate and dust. But what makes it stand out is the problems caused by the improperly placed jelly stones, used by the authorities to fill potholes.

The tyres of the vehicles get punctured, thanks to the sharp jelly stones. Also, pedestrians using the stretch are at risk as they may be hit by jelly shrapnels, every time a heavy vehicle passes over these these potholes.

Ilyas, a mechanic, said : "The people here do not protest and this has become a boon for civic authorities. They take the people’s attitude for granted. During peak hours, there is no free flow of traffic on this stretch." Saleem, a service station worker , said that nobody listened to their grievances.

"The irony is that the local corporator’s office is also situated near the main road. Accidents, which often occur here, generally happen when a driver tries to avoid craters. However , the authorities are not bothered about all this, " he restrengthen the road. "The road, which is 80 fee is definitely capable of handling the traffi U nfortunately , its condition prevents it fr Hence, there is an urgent need to restrengthen the by filling all the potholes and laying a 50 mm thi bituminous concrete road. Parking should be prohi for atleast upto 300 metres on the stretch," he ad

CHAIRMAN S VERSION : Disagreeing with the view that the road’s conditio remained in a pathetic state for the last Bytarayanapura CMC chairman S Raja claimed t standard of the road had deteriorated only heavy rains last year . He said the heavy caused the road to deteriorate.

"The work order for repairing this stretch sanctioned and we are ready to start work in the n days. W e are waiting for the Cavery water pipelin laid. Once that is done, we will repair th claimed.

lamented. Ganesh Kumar , a government employee, claimed that the road had remained in this condition for the last several years.

"W e have submitted several memorandums to the authorities. Each time, we were promised that the road would be repaired soon. Now , we have stopped approaching them as we are fed up with their attitude," Ganesh said.

Reacting strongly to the pathetic state of the stretch, shop owner Murugan said : " I am cursing my fate as I own a building here. I am seriously considering the option of selling my property and moving to some other part of the City ."

EXPERT SPEAK : Explaining about the stretch, T raffic Engineers and Safety T rainers ( TEST ) chairman M N Sreehari said that it was a very big junction and parking vehicles in a haphazard manner was the main problem.

"The haphazard way in which vehicles are parked hinders the smooth flow of traffic. V ehicles proceeding towards the Ring Road find it difficult to move in an orderly fashion because of the disorderly manner in which vehicles are parked," he said.

"The number of housing units and layouts coming up in and around the area have made this junction one of the busiest in Bangalore. Here, the road is completely torn out. In some places, the depth of potholes is more than 9 inches." He suggested that the CMC commissioner should initiate measures