Roadblock: BBMP, BWSSB guilty?

Roadblock: BBMP, BWSSB guilty?

November 22nd, 2009
By Our Correspondent
Tags: BBMP, BWSSB


Bengaluru
Nov. 21: Lack of coordination between two major civic agencies in the city, Bruhat Bengaluru Mahanagar Palike (BBMP) and the Bangalore Water Supply and Sewerage Board (BWSSB), has put residents of Bengaluru East in a tight spot. Kamaraj Road, which connects that part of the city to the Central Business District, Shivajinagar and other areas has been blocked twice in the past six months.
The BWSSB has just finished laying a 900 mm diameter pipe from Ulsoor Lake to Armstrong Road for supply of drinking water. Kamaraj Road had been blocked for the duration of the project — almost 45 days. Residents, who thought an end to their troubles was in sight, have now received another shocker. Kamaraj Road has been blocked again by BBMP for the construction of a bridge across a stormwater drain (SWD), diverting traffic to residential lanes.
Residents hold the civic agencies responsible for their inconvenience, alleging that both BBMP and the BWSSB failed to coordinate while planning their projects.
More vehicles will be forced to ply on narrow and battered residential lanes, increasing the traffic woes of residents in Bharathinagar, Armstrong Road, Veerapillai Street and St. John’s Road. “The noise pollution from the vehicles disturbs us even as late as 10 at night. As this locality used to be serene, the residents are not used to the erratic speeds at which vehicles move on the roads,” says former corporator M. Pari.
Senior citizens and schoolchildren are finding it difficult to cross the road due to the speeding vehicles, say residents of Veerapillai Street. “The work on Kamaraj Road is complete and now work will be carried out in other areas,” says a senior BWSSB engineer. A BBMP engineer also denies that the civic body is to blame for the fresh inconvenience, saying, “The remodelling of the drain could not be carried out while the BWSSB was doing its work as adequate space was required for constructing a bridge. We have coordinated with the traffic police to minimise the inconvenience and traffic has been suitably diverted. The work will take at least three months.”