Residents prefer to walk here

Residents prefer to walk here
Vijay Times


WELCOME to Nagarabhavi. A road that has been a nightmare to thousands of motorists for the last one year .

If one was to take a stroll from the Nagarabhavi circle to the 80feet-road and from there, cross the V rishabhavathi bridge and proceed till the new ring road, which is under construction, one would find innumerable potholes on the stretch.

The BCC would have to shell out lakhs of rupees as prize money if this road was included among those listed in the ’spot the pothole’ contest, scheduled to begin in the last week of January .

Commenting on the plight of the road, Paramesh, a tempo driver , said: "W e have been pleading with the authorities concerned to get the stretch repaired. However , they say the ring road will be constructed shortly and will solve our problem." Deepak, a cable TV technician, said he was fed up of complaining about the road to the authorities. "The situation worsens when it rains and I am forced to take a longer route then," he added.

B M Prakash, a private firm employee, said the officials concerned had been making false promises on the issue of repair work. "They would tell me that the repair work would begin shortly . But nothing has happened till now . So, I have decided to walk on this road rather than ride on it and risk my life," he said.

Nanappa, a BMTC driver, pointed out that it took him almost 15 minutes to drive through this stretch.

"The situation is unimaginable during peak hours," he said.

Claiming that riding on the road had caused him to suffer from back ache, Raghu, a civil engineer , said : "Riding on the road at night is like travelling over the valley of death." Shop owner N Manjunath said he had to clean his shop thrice a day to remove the dust that settled down in his shop from the mud road.

XPERT SPEAK

T raffic Engineers and Safety T rainers ( TEST ) chairman M N Srihari said: "Though the road is wide enough to convert it into a four lane, it can be divided only after building a median." The profile of the road needs to be scientifically corrected to develop it.

Camberboards have to be kept, at a cross slope of 2.5 percent, to ensure an effective drainage system.

"A 50-75 mm thick layer , comprising bitamin and concrete, has to be laid on the road. Following this, a one-metre wide central median must be built. Electric poles must be erected and then the drainage system laid. This would increase the life of the road," he added.

Srihari said : "Over 3,500 passenger car units use the stretch between Nagarbhavi and the ring road." He claimed that the civic authorities did not have the mindset nor knowledge about the latest technologies. Mudalapalya corporator N Shantakumari said, Due to the construction of the new ring road, the repair work cannot be undertaken.

As the BDA is planning to construct a underpass in the Nagarbhavi Circle, we have decided not to waste the public money , she added.

Motorists balance their way on the battered Monday