Commuting on this road is a back-breaking exercise

Commuting on this road is a back-breaking exercise

Most victims are IT professionals who silently suffer as their appeals for help fall on deaf ears

CIVIC Agencies must clear mess-up on marathahalli outer ring road

Sunitha Rao R. Bangalore

For the IT professionals working in companies located along Marathahalli outer ring road, commuting has become a painful exercise.
Although about 30,000 employees working in 50-odd companies use this stretch daily, the Bangalore Development Authority has not taken steps to improve the condition of the road, S Viswanath, a spokesperson of Outer Ring Road Companies' Association (ORRCA), said.
"Some land owners have removed the divider placed by BDA between Jakkasandra Junction and Agara Junction. Driving has become a back-breaking exercise, especially for bikers, on this road," he said.
"We had approached BDA officials for help many a time in vain. But the traffic police are maintaining smooth flow of vehicles on the road," Naveen Kumar M, a member of ORRCA, said.
The service road between Bellandur Junction and Devarabisahanalli Junction is also in a pathetic state.
"Lot of construction works are in progress along the road. So each time a truck carries construction materials like sand to the sites, they get spilled on to the road. Two-wheelers skid on sand and accidents occur. But no measure has been taken until now to resolve the problem," Naveen said.
Janakiram K, who works with Northern Trust, said, "The road between Jakkasandra Junction and Agara Junction is potholed. Asphalting has not been done there for the past six months. Each time we complain, BBMP officials say BDA is accountable for the problem. BDA officials, on their part, say BBMP is responsible. As the two civic bodies keep blaming each other instead of tackling the road problem, commuters like us continue to suffer." He recalled an accident on this stretch that led to the death of an IT professional one year back.
"Some land owners, for their own benefit, have removed the dividers set up BDA. This is an attack on public property. This has also led to traffic jams. Despite our appeals, the engineer in-charge has not taken necessary action against these offenders. The road is always filled with mud and sand which fall off trucks carrying them to level the land between the junctions," he said.
Nagaraja Murthy, executive engineer of BDA of the area, said "The barricades were removed for construction of an over bridge on Agara junction. They will be reinstalled when the bridge work is completed."