Life stinks at Gangadhar Chetty Road

Life stinks at Gangadhar Chetty Road

As BBMP huffs and puffs to build stormwater drains and side drains on the road, residents are running for cover. Sudipa Chakraborty finds out the details.

Sudipa Chakraborty



Life stinks at Gangadhar Chetty RoadFor the last two years, residents and shop-owners on Gangadhar Chetty Road in Ulsoor have been living at the mercy of the BBMP. For them, it has been a life between the drains. With one side of the road devoted to construction work for stormwater drains, and the other occupied by the work for side drains, life stinks here. Swirling dust, mosquitoes and foul smell irritate the residents no end. Moreover, the heaps of sand, pipes and cement slabs spread out at both corners of the road offer a rough ride to motorists. Last week, a 19-year-old boy met with a major accident.
While the work on the stormwater drains has been going on for the last two years, the side drains are being repaired only now. Pavements have become dumping yards. The never-ending construction (pipes removed and the pits kept open) has not only invited the wrath of the residents and shop-owners of the area, but also has made the traffic personnel at Ulsoor traffic police station a worried lot.
The construction has left very little space for vehicles to pass by. Being a major road that connects MG Road and Dickinson Road, there is heavy traffic on Gangadhar Chetty Road. Residents fear that during monsoon, the heaps of sand will spill over on to the main road causing accidents. Traffic constables have visited the area to take pictures of the gridlock created by the construction work by BBMP to submit a report to Praveen Sood, the traffic commissioner.
"We have been asked by our superiors to take pictures of the incomplete construction and the heaps of debris that cause problems for motorists. Not only does it delay the traffic movement on the road, it also leads to accidents," said a traffic constable.
Balappa Reddy, executive engineer, Bharathinagar, BBMP, ruled out any delay in the project: "We are trying to cover the open drain with cement slabs. The work has begun about one and half months back and should be completed within this month." He added: "Such a project takes around three months to complete. We have earmarked a budget of Rs50 lakh for this project. It will be completed by the end of this month."
Huge losses
Most of the shops in the area are incurring huge losses as the construction work drives away customers. "The main problem is the dust. Customers refuse to come to our eatery because the dust keeps swirling in the wind. Earlier, we used to make Rs10,000 per day. These days, we can hardly earn Rs3000. How can we run our restaurant in such a situation?" asked Karthik Brian, who is the executive-in-charge at the restaurant, Daily Bread.
It's time the BBMP officials paid heed to the voice of the residents and shopkeepers on Gangadhar Chetty Road.
Despair and rage can certainly prove a deadly cocktail, and the forthcoming elections to the BBMP will see councillors being forced to take a swig out of it.