Electricity poles jut into the road in 100 ft Road, Koramangala

Electricity poles jut into the road in 100 ft Road, Koramangala
NEETHU REGHUKUMAR


Roads dug, trees cut, sand piling on the road... these are common sights for Bangaloreans who try to navigate their way through such obstacles daily, hoping that someday it would lead to a better infrastructure.
But a different sort of obstacle confronts people in 100 feet road, Koramangala. Here the road has been widened, but the authorities have forgotten to remove the electricity poles, leaving them in the middle of the road for the past one and a half years. Almost 15 poles, jutting each about 5 feet from the footpath into the road, have added to the misery of the pedestrians. And the motorists are using it as parking space.
BLAME GAME
J C Prakash, a resident of Koramangala 6th block, said, “This road joins Hosur Road, Koramangala and Indiranagar and for the last one and a half years, I have tried talking to many authorities. I spoke to the local police who said it came under the Bruhat Bangalore Mahanagara Palike (BBMP) and the Bangalore Electricity Supply Company Limited (Bescom). The BBMP officials also said that it’s the duty of the Bescom to remove the poles. The Bescom officials said that they were yet to undertake underground cable works on the road. Now it’s been more than a year, but neither has there been any underground cable work, nor have the poles been removed.”
The road was widened to reduce traffic congestion, but now it’s just serving as a parking space.
OFFICIAL VERSION
A K Gopalaswamy, engineer-in-chief of the BBMP, said, “BBMP is doing the work, we have already started removing the poles and the work should be done in another week’s time. The delay was because earlier Bescom had to work on the underground cables, but now we are doing the work.” The BBMP officials said that though the notification to widen the road was given in 2005, it was widened only one and a half years ago.