BBMP kills weekend joy for motorists

BBMP kills weekend joy for motorists

It will continue digging work at the Residency Road-Brigade Road junction for three days

Bangalore Mirror Bureau
Posted On Sunday, November 09, 2008

Call it ‘weekend-harassment’ from the BBMP: Thousands of Bangaloreans were stranded on different roads in the central part of the city on Saturday following a massive traffic logjam caused because of the civic body’s voracious appetite to dig up good roads.

The BBMP, without giving any prior warning to the denizens, dug up the always busy Residency Road near the Brigade Road intersection on Friday night in order to re-construct the existing underground storm water drain. No contingency plan pertaining to traffic diversion had been drawn up.

When traffic started flowing from all directions onto Residency Road on Saturday morning, it was chaos unleashed.

Vehicles coming from the southern and western parts of the city started piling up on the road right from 8:45 am onwards; so much so that motorists took nearly an hour to cover the 1.5 kilometre from Richmond Circle flyover to Mayo Hall.

Tempers ran high and frustration against the authorities mounted. Said Vivek Patil, a motorist: “Why the hell don’t the BBMP guys alert us about their plans. I was caught unawares and now my entire day has been ruined. The BBMP should have informed us through newspapers or at least taken steps to divert traffic efficiently, but did not. I don’t know when the civic authorities and the police will think about us.”

The traffic police were at the receiving end of flak from the motorists. ACP traffic (Adugodi) Lokesh said: “We had feared a traffic jam and diverted vehicular movement for three days from Brigade Road to Garuda Mall on Magrath Road. We have told the BBMP officials to stick to their word and complete the work in the next three days.”

Not just the police, the BBMP’s move caused problems for BSNL too as more than 500 landline connections failed.

Though the BBMP maintained that other agencies including the BSNL were informed about the work, the latter countered: “They did not specify the dates when they would take up the remodelling work on the drain.”

When contacted, BBMP Chief Engineer (SWD) Chikkarayappa told Bangalore Mirror: “It was a long-pending work which could not be completed earlier due to heavy rains. The drain was damaged and due to regular vehicular movement, the slab had collapsed and it had damaged the drain, thereby blocking water flow.”

Though he did not offer any explanation for the weekend shock administered to motorists, he maintained that the work will be completed in the next 72 hours.