ARTERY BLOCK

ARTERY BLOCK
Brigade Rd-Residency Rd junction, linking high street, has been chaotic for two days. BBMP hopes to clear the mess today
TIMES NEWS NETWORK

Bangalore: More than 40 workers, a huge crane, earth-mover, four tippers, trucks and erection machine have been at work here since Friday night. With work on the storm water drain at the Brigade Road-Residency Road junction aimed to be completed by early Wednesday, BBMP hopes to have the road open for traffic from Wednesday morning.
While chaos and confusion prevailed during the first two days, work progressed on schedule through Tuesday. Much of it was spent on relaying the pre-cast segments on level with the road surface. While route diversions continued to help control traffic in this area on Tuesday, there was some slow-moving traffic during peak hours.
“Erection of the 16 pre-cast drain segments (each 3m x 3m) will be complete by late Tuesday night and we will complete the approach works overnight to clear the road for traffic,’’ BBMP chief engineer (SWD)Chikkarayappa told The Times of India. However, maintenance work will continue for another week. This includes work on the side drains. There are two or three side drains connecting to this drain from Brigade Road and Hotel Imperial. In addition, there will be a new side drain laid from the petrol bunk opposite Imperial. The total cost of this maintenance work is Rs 1 crore.
‘There was little cooperation’
First-person account by the Vieyras, who live next to the scene of action
‘Beck Haven’ is probably the only house on Residency Road, which stretches from the flyover to this junction. Located right next to the drain, Alister Vieyra and his wife have spent the last three days watching and living with the mess.
“Can’t you smell it?’’ exclaims a worried Mrs Alister. The third-generation inhabitant here, this is probably one of the few occasions the couple has regretted their upmarket location. “We understand the work is crucial, but such a massive project must be better planned,’’ she said.
The couple had a tough time coping with the inconvenience caused. “We were informed by the BBMP engineer about the work, but didn’t realize it was this big,’’ Alister said. Work, that began on Friday night, snapped power and water supply. While the damaged water lines are yet to be restored, residents got power restored on a makeshift arrangement by Bescom on Saturday evening.
“We are not here to watch it, rather to guard our compound,’’ says Alister. They have not been able to move out of their house and have also lost much of their privacy.However, they still have a word of praise for the work. “We have seen them at work through the days. Sadly, much of their work could have been reduced with a proper inspection on time,’’ is all they have to say. They also expressed concern over the lack of coordination among agencies.“I approached BWSSB officials to help replace water lines, but they refused, passing it on to another department,” Mrs Alister said.
RESIDENTS APPRECIATIVE
We understand that major
drain work on this busy
road is not easy, but it
needs better planning and coordination at the execution level. Thomas | RESIDENT OF RESIDENCY ROAD
We appreciate the hard work by the workers. But much of it could have been avoided with proper inspection during the initial stages itself. Raju | PEDESTRIAN
Seems like any maintenance work is a problem for people here while it’s in progress. Why can’t the authorities plan on proper strategies to mitigate our suffering during this interim period? Mary Byewater | TOURIST FROM LONDON