The lowdown on ‘roads’

K R Market
The lowdown on ‘roads’
Deccan Herald

Answers please...Why has no attention been given to this area till now? Who is responsible for the filth and mess in KR Market? Why hasn’t any attempts been made to shift the bus stand from the main market area to decongest traffic?

Krishna Rajendra Market, one of the busiest markets of the City, is perhaps also the filthiest. The roads, footpaths and drainage are in a terrible state, making it a living hell for residents and traders alike.

Sheer negligence on the part of the authorities and lack of cooperation from the people of this area is resulting in an untimely death of this market that still carries the remnants of ‘good old Bangalore.’

The bad state of KR market’s two major roads - Silver Jubilee Park Road and Narasimha Road - has left people grumbling against the authorities, “for not bothering to take any concrete steps towards providing basic amenities.”

“The BMP is not concerned about sanitation issues, and as a result this area has become a stinking pocket. It is very difficult to walk on these dirty roads," Vishnu Prasad, a lodge owner said.

According to businessmen, it has been a decade since this area saw any sort of construction or renovation. The last development work was the construction of the Sirsi flyover in 1996. People now seem resigned to living amidst filth and dirt.

Incidentally, the Karnataka Land Army Corporation has recently taken up the renovation work for SJP Road, starting from Masjid to the Town Hall. With the help of the National Urban Rajiv Gandhi Foundation, the authorities are also planning to put slabs to cover open drains, and this space can also be used for parking of BMTC buses. Though the location for this plan has been identified, it is still in its initial stages.

However, the local people do not seem very excited about these “plans”. Ameen Kausar, a cloth merchant, rued, "Once in two years, the contractors come to repair the damaged roads and to cover potholes. But the material used is always substandard, and it cannot withstand the heavy traffic load or the rains. As a result, the roads soon revert back to its sorry state.”

"Widening the roads will not solve the problem, a laning system should be introduced instead. There should also be a check on the movement of vendors, they should not be allowed to move anywhere and everywhere and add to the chaos," Harish G Gowda, a real estate owner said.

The fact that KR Market is a major bus hub adds to the problem. Every eight minutes, a bus makes an entry, triggering chaotic movement of commuters, pedestrians, vendors and traders. There is no room for public parking, since the shop-owners themselves park their vehicles on the footpaths and roads. “With only two-three traffic police personnel manning the entire area, traffic movement is uncontrolled," Srikantha B A, a telephone booth operator, added.

A corporation tap is leaking for the past two years, but no BMP engineer has come to fix it. There are not enough street lights and the garbage menace is getting out of control, complained K S Vijay Kumar, a shoe shop owner.

Official version: Meanwhile, BMP Chief Engineer Satyanarayanan said that 770 metres of the SJP Road is being repaired and the work is expected to be completed by September 10. “We have identified drains which can be closed, we will convert these pockets into parking lots or parks,” he said. However, when asked why there was such a delay in taking up road works in this area, Satyanarayanan did not have an answer.