Commercial hub in the pit of neglect

Commercial hub in the pit of neglect

Nagardpet residents miserable as road work gets delayed

Senthalir S. Bangalore

Potholes, bumpy roads and slush confront people in one of the oldest and busiest commercial areas of Bangalore.
Traders and residents of Nagardpet are suffering a lot due to the shoddy road works being carried out by the Bruhat Bangalore Mahanagara Palike (BBMP). They complain that there is no help coming from civic agencies.
"It has been six months since BBMP had given the contract to lay a 300m road. But the contractor is doing a shoddy job. The roads should be dug up completely. Then, proper procedure has to be followed to lay the road. If the contractor is negligent, the roads will not be levelled and this will lead to more problems," said BK Goyal, secretary of Trade Associations of Central Bangalore.
Adding to the woes, there is no drinking water supply to nearby areas like Gangarpet and Kumbarpet. "The water we get is contaminated. The sewerage water gets mixed with drinking water because of broken pipelines. Even after we made several complaints, officials seem to be not at all bothered in solving our problems," said KS Sardar Ahmed, a resident of Nagardpet.
When questioned over the delay in road works, civic agencies keep passing the buck. BBMP says it is up to the Bangalore Water Supply and Sewerage Board (BWSSB) to lay sanitary pipes and the Bangalore Electricity Supply Board (BESCOM) to remove an electric pole to help the work progress.
"We had sent a notice two months back to BWSSB and BESCOM to complete their work fast. But they have not done it. If they finish their work, we will be able to work fast," a BBMP official said. A water board official said BBMP should help them in laying the pipelines.
"The water board and BESCOM officials say they have to prepare the work estimate before starting the work. But even after six months, they haven't done anything. We have been constantly asking them to speed up the work. There is no coordination among the civic agencies," Goyal said.
"This is one of the busiest commercial areas. If the infrastructure is bad, people won't come here. Instead, they will go to the malls," he said. The lack of coordination among civic agencies and the shoddy work done by the contractor are making life miserable for pedestrians and motorists in Nagaradpet.