FLYOVER ‘LEFTOVER’

FLYOVER ‘LEFTOVER’
A new flyover has been built in Wheeler Road that connects it to BIA, but the incomplete service road and the strewn-around equipment is giving residents sleepless nights
DEEPTHI M R


Abrand new flyover, new lights and connectivity to Bengaluru International Airport - all perfect. But what lies beneath is the service road with dust and road-laying equipment strewn all over the place. Residents of Wheeler Road have put up with it for three years and have had enough of it.
Sathya Prakash Bhatnagar, a resident of Wheeler Road, said, “This was a road full of trees. During the spring, it was filled with yellow flowers. This ended three years ago, when the flyover work began.”
FORGOTTEN ROAD
Prakash has been living here for about 10 years. “The engineers were to build a service road, but they have long forgotten to do it. There have been times when we had to tell them we are waiting to take our vehicles out and we want the building materials removed,” he said.
‘COMPLETE SERVICE ROAD’
The flyover is set to be inaugurated on Jan 26, but residents want the service road to be completed before the inauguration. Col. John, another resident, said, “There are iron rods jutting out of the flyover that pose threat to our lives and cause damage to vehicles passes below.”
The flyover has also affected shopkeepers and vendors. Khalid Ahmed, a shop owner on the service road, said, “I have had this shop for 25 years. Today, the flyover stands right in front of my store and my customers find it difficult to even walk on the road. My business has been hit.”
Fruits and vegetable vendors have stopped visiting the area. “Vendors used to come to our doorstep to sell their wares. Since the service road is in a poor state, it is not possible for them to even enter the road,” said Rosea, a resident living here for 30 years.
IN THE DARK
Streetlights were removed when the flyover work began. For over three years, residents have been living in the dark. “As the place has been dug up, I met with an accident that required surgery,” said Asrhada Belgaumwala, a resident.
Residents have complained to the local authorities but with no result. “We complained to legislator N Raghu and the BBMP. We have been paying taxes regularly; all we demand is our right,” she said.
Since equipment has been dumped all over the place, people have started using it as a urinal. “The corner of the road which ends at a railway track has turned into a urinal and it stinks,” said Bharek C L, a shop owner.