Highway cacophony drowns HSR Layout

Highway cacophony drowns HSR Layout

Curbs on Outer Ring Road stretch have diverted trucks into the residential area

Sunitha Rao R. Bangalore



Residents of HSR Layout are having a tough time, what with construction work on two flyovers at Iblur and Agara junctions on Outer Ring Road (ORR) nearby going on for five months now.
With curbs on traffic movement on this ORR stretch, heavy vehicles coming from Sarjapur side take the roads of HSR Layout, especially those in Sectors 2, 3 and 4 of the locality.
This sudden influx of speeding and honking trucks and buses among other vehicles have been causing much distress to the residents.
Brigadier RS Murthy, president of the HSR Layout Residents' Welfare Association, told DNA that the Bangalore Development Authority (BDA) and Bruhat Bangalore Mahanagara Palike (BBMP) should have consulted the residents before taking such a step.
"The BDA and traffic police have diverted the highway traffic into the residential areas, disturbing the peace and tranquility of the area. There is so much noise even during midnight," he said.
Brig Murthy added that the net result of this influx of vehicles was increase in all sorts of pollution — noise and air. The high dust content in the air has also exposed people to health risks like bronchitis and other lung disorders.
Compounding the woes of the residents is the fact that civic works are on in several parts of the layout.
RS Hiremath, vice-president, HSR Layout Residents' Welfare Association, said the battered roads of the locality are a testimony to the sub-standard work of BBMP. "Even those roads that were laid recently are in a pathetic condition. There is a total lack of planning. Why can't BBMP keep the residents
in the loop about their plan of action?" he asked.
Residents of 7th Sector where several IAS officers, including BBMP commissioner Bharat Lal Meena, stay, however have managed to escape the misery. As Murthy said, "This is because their locality has been barricaded so that no heavy truck can enter the area."
When contacted, Shivabasavaiah, joint commissioner, Bommanahalli zone, said that he will instruct the BBMP engineers to expedite the road works.
DNA also spoke to a senior traffic police official of east zone who said they were helpless but were doing their best to mitigate the woes of residents. A BDA contractor said work was just two months behind the schedule, and that the Agara flyover will be completed by
June 2010.