The many miseries of unplanned Marathahalli

The many miseries of unplanned Marathahalli
The Times of India

Marathahalli: For those who live, drive or even walk in Marathahalli, the woes are many. Heavy traffic, pollution, damaged street lighting, pathetic roads and footpaths have plagued this thickly populated residential and commercial hub.

Traversing Marathahalli main road is equally cumbersome. The entire road was haphazardly dug up. A large stretch of the road is a huge pit — 2 feet deep and 20 feet wide. All this in the name of road expansion and elevation which the BDA began four months back.

Asphalting and repair work has begun in full swing only since Wednesday. The roads are demarcated by placing huge stones around it. Surprisingly, there were no boards cautioning motorists to drive slowly. Says Babu Lal, owner of a jewellery store: “Everybody is fed up with the nuisance created by vehicles. Overtaking is a common phenomenon here. Residents also face high levels of noise and air pollution.’’

That’s not all. Footpaths are broken and vehicles parked in no-parking zones due to non-availability of space and delayed road work. Moreover, inadequate lighting, most of which is due to damaged and unrepaired streetlights, leads to poor visibility.

DCP east, traffic, M A Saleem, says: “12,000 passenger car units (PCU) travel in Marathahalli per hour. Traffic flow has become very slow ever since roadwork has started. The narrow railway bridge causes a lot of problems too.’’

The solution? Saleem says: “We are studying the situation and are thinking of some peak hour diversions. Vehicles coming from ITPL to Marathahalli could be diverted to K R Puram. Two sub-inspectors along with six constables are on duty during daytime. One subinspector and additional constables have also been deputed on the night beat to check traffic.’’

The condition of internal roads is no different. Garbage strewn everywhere and damaged drains intensify problems. Agrees Mahadevapura CMC commissioner M A Baig: “Bad roads is inconveniencing people. A special package has been sanctioned for internal roadwork and ward development work. Every ward has been allotted Rs 20 lakh in this regard.’’

MLASPEAK: A KRISHNAPPA

Development is a continuous process. There are new layouts coming up every day but the funds available are not on par with the demand. Of the Rs 60-crore budget, a large chunk is utilised for paying salaries, managing streetlights, water lines, cleaning and garbage removal along with various other maintenance works. There is a meagre amount left for development.