They dread to travel on these roads daily

They dread to travel on these roads daily
Deccan Herald

If there is one thing that the autorickshaw drivers in Dasarahalli City Municipal Council (CMC) limits fear the most, it is ferrying pregnant women to maternity homes. “We have long stretches of slush for a road. Be it Laggere road, Gopalanagar, Hegganahalli Main Road or Sunkadkatte road, it is one daunting experience,” rues Venkategowda, member of Autorickshaw Drivers’ Union, Hegganahalli branch.

The Union members staged a protest before the CMC office on Monday, demanding basic amenities such as roads, drinking water and drainage. Ironically, the CMC, with its 2.6 lakh population spread over 38 sq km, is one of the 57 cities in the State to have e-governance.

Says an NGO volunteer Kamalamma, “Those who can afford it avail of water from tankers, while slum-dwellers and the lower middle class are forced to use borewell water, which is also scarce. However, an analysis of water available has deemed it unfit for human consumption. That explains why people suffer from recurring jaundice and typhoid.”

The CMC officials have no answer to the pathetic state of the roads, even though they are part of the flood relief works that had been given a deadline of March 2006.

For instance, Hegganahalli main road had been allocated Rs 13 lakh and work started on December 2005, and was to be completed on March 18, 2006.

However, till date, the main road remains unattended.

Meanwhile, Commissioner P B Naik, who is only a month old in the CMC, says: “The road works had to be stalled as the BWSSB has taken up some other works. We will resume the road works soon.”