Residents have reason to cheer as CMH Road to get back its sheen

Residents have reason to cheer as CMH Road to get back its sheen

After Metro work began, CMH Road had turned into a danger zone for commuters due to limited space, and open pits along the stretch. Now the barricades have been removed, pits covered and roads are getting a new coat of tar, S Senthalir reports

S Senthalir



A New Year gift is in the offing for the residents and traders of CMH Road. The CMH Road, which became a danger zone after the metro work began, is slowly getting back its sheen.
"When the metro work began on CMH Road, we were scared to walk on the streets. Water pipelines were broken and the roads were in a mess. But now, the barricades have been removed and roads are being asphalted. Traders suffered huge losses and now we hope that we get back our business," said Imtiaz Ahmed, president of CMH Traders and Establishments Association.
"The Bangalore Metro Rail Corporation (BMRCL) has initiated work on asphalting roads and we are happy that there is constant monitoring by the Metro officials," he said.
The BMRCL has entrusted the work of asphalting roads to the Karnataka Land Army Corporation Limited. "The association will also co-operate with the BMRCL while carrying out the work," he said.
Glad that the metro work is on schedule, Dinakar, a resident of CMH Road, said: "The leakages have been corrected and the street lights are also back. With the work progressing on full swing, we only request the BMRCL not to close the roads. Otherwise, the accessibility to hospitals will be cut off for senior citizens here."
Anita Rao, another resident, said there should be constant monitoring while laying roads to avoid substandard work.
"The differences in the level of roads can lead to accidents and cause difficulty for motorists. This should be avoided. We hope that the launching of segments is completed at the earliest," she said.
Imitiaz said the work on launching girders would be critical as the pillars on CMH Road were the tallest.
"We hope that the work is carried out safely," he said.
Assuring that the launching of segments would be completed on Reach 1 (Byappanahalli to Cricket Stadium) by June next year, BMRCL spokesperson BL Yashvanth Chavan said: "We will start launching of segments, which are in the final stage, in mid-January.
"The work will be taken out in stages. First, the segments will be launched from Old Madras Road to 100 Feet Road. Later, it will be from 100 Feet Road to CMH Road and to Trinity Circle and finally from Trinity Circle to Cricket Stadium. The work is expected to be completed in June next year." He said the roads would have to be blocked in the initial phase. But the modalities were yet to be worked out.
Once a sprawling business street, CMH Road turned into a danger zone for pedestrians and motorists after the metro work began. Residents and traders were hit as water pipelines were broken and not repaired for months. The roads were in bad condition and motorists plying on this stretch were under constant threat.
When residents and traders contacted the civic agencies, the latter pointed their fingers at the Metro officials. The civic agencies kept blaming each other and did not take any responsibility towards solving the problems faced by commuters.
Residents said senior citizens and children were finding it difficult to walk on this stretch, especially at night. Live cables were left unattended posing a threat to pedestrians. Late night pedestrians faced the risk of getting their legs entangled among the cables and falling into open pits along the road. A few such incidents had happened on the stretch.