W-hole truth: 1km, 336 potholes!

W-hole truth: 1km, 336 potholes!

By Sameer Ranjan Bakshi
Posted On Tuesday, September 16, 2008

It’s like the road to perdition! BVK Iyengar Road, the top retail hub in the city, is giving nightmares to motorists as this less than one-km stretch is riddled with 336 potholes, many of whom are like huge craters.

Thanks to the Bruhat Bangalore Mahanagara Palike’s (BBMP) apathy, this road is set to create a record of sorts in the ‘most bumpiest road’ contest!

Bangalore Mirror scanned the one-km stretch to check how the road - that earns hundreds of crores of rupees as revenue for the government - is being maintained. The outcome was shocking. While the left side of the road starting from KG Road (Sagar theatre junction) was pockmarked with 261 potholes, 19 craters and four badly-mutilated stretches, the right side had 75 potholes, 14 craters and four bad stretches. Still worse were the pavements that made the lives of pedestrians miserable.

“The area contributes nearly 10 per cent of the state’s revenue in the form of sales tax. When we are paying so much to the exchequer, the road should have been a top-class one. But the reality is disturbing,” said Manikchand Lunkad, secretary of Karnataka Electrical Merchants’ Association.

According to him, more than 25,000 people visit BVK Iyengar Road and adjoining places for shopping every day. “Every product is sold here — electrical goods, kitchenware, textiles or plastic goods. This is the nerve centre for all retail activity, yet it’s in a pathetic shape,” he added.

With BBMP turning a blind eye towards the road, public anger is only increasing. It was evident when Bangalore Mirror interacted with the traders on the road and the passers-by. All that they did was hurl expletives at the authorities. While pedestrians jostle for space with motorists on the road, the worst-hit are the cart-pullers who strain every sinew to negotiate craters.

“Every time I pull a load of garments from the godown to the showroom on this road, the one question that haunts me is: When will God show mercy on me by repairing this road?” said Chinnatambi, a 55-year-old cart puller on RT Street. For women and schoolchildren, walking on the road is nothing but a ‘tightrope’ walk.

Incidentally, the areas flanking BVK Iyengar Road are BJP strongholds.

Commuting on the road is a nightmare during rains. “The potholes and craters get filled with muddy water, which splashes into the shops every time a vehicle’s tyre goes over it,” Sanjay Sood, a electrical shop trader, said. Joining him in pouring out their woes, Ananth S, president of Cauvery Putrara Sangha, blamed the the BBMP for shoddy road works in the area. “It was only a couple of months ago that the road was asphalted,” he said. The residents and traders have made several representations to the BBMP requesting it to take up repair works.

The BBMP attributed the delay in taking up asphalting to rains and confusion over the schedule drawn up for widening the road. A senior BBMP official, who did not want to be named since Bangalore development portfolio is being held by chief minister B S Yeddyurappa, admitted the road had decayed a lot. Now, the question is: If the highest tax paying road is in such a pathetic shape, what could be the plight of the other roads!


What they all said?

BVK Iyengar Road, which is flanked by several business pockets, was laid in the 1960s to link Mysore Road with Sheshadri Road and South Bangalore with the North. The road cuts through several areas such as Chikpet, Balepet and Akkipet. As several houses and shops were demolished to construct the road, it was initially called ‘new road’. Subsequently, the road was named after BVK Iyengar, the former vice-president of the erstwhile Bangalore Municipal Council.


Ramesh Kumar, a cloth merchant:
“I don’t know whom to complain to on the abysmal road condition right under the nose of my shop. Till the next BBMP elections, I do not see any ray of hope.”

Sohail Khan, who rents out shops:
“There is no good officer in the BBMP who will respond to our problems. We will be forced to put up with the infrastructure woes for some more time.”

Bhanu P I,a housewife:
“The traffic here is so so bad that it is harmful to the school-going children.”

Lokesh, a hosiery dealer:
“A lot of grants have come from MPLADS and MLA funds, but we don’t know where all that has gone. The prevailing road conditions smacks of a scam.”

H S Somnath, an advocate:
“Heavy flooding and lack of street lights have made the road unsafe.”

N S Nishen, a shopkeeper:
“My main concern is parking. A lot of customers do not come to my shop because the road is bad and there’s no parking facility.”

V Vinutha, a housewife:
“I have to start one hour before to go any place because it takes more than 30 minutes to cover half a kilometre on this stretch.”