Avenue Road, a venue for waterlogging

Avenue Road, a venue for waterlogging
Bangalore: May 18, DH News Service

Avenue Road and its adjacent streets, Siddaiah Road and Ranoji Rao Road located right in the heart of the City, pose tough challenge to the mayor, who on Monday had claimed that the Bruhat Bangalore Mahanagara Palike (BBMP) is geared up to deal with floods during monsoon.

For residents living on either side of these roads and motorists frequenting these streets, it is hard to recall a time when there were no floodings. Choked storm water drains, silt-packed underground sewerage lines and improper slopes characterise these three roads.

The official apathy is so much that no one turns up to look at the problem faced by the commuters.

The scene is worst in Chickpet. The roads, even on Tuesday, were muddied and full of filth. Traders in OT Pet said the Sunday evening’s rainwater has not yet drained out nor soaked completely.

Accustomed to mess

“What you are seeing today is a usual thing here during rainy season. We are accustomed to this condition. Though we do the ritual of calling the BBMP to remove the silt, we know all our pleas are falling on deaf ears.” said Sudhakaran, a resident of this area.

Janardhan, a grocery shop owner at a corner of OT Pet said the BBMP officials came last Saturday and removed silt but no one then took the pain to shift the silt from the spot. Now, the heap of silt is lying right in the middle of the road affecting movement of vehicles and pedestrians.

Another major water-logging zone is near Siddaiah Road where a downpour of one hour is enough to result in water stagnation, throwing traffic out of gear. Water gushes into many shops and houses in the area. A fruit vendor, Ejaz Pasha complained that there was nearly two feet water inside his shop as rains pummelled the City on Sunday evening.

Similar grouse

The residents of Ramoji Rao too had a similar grouse that the Palike officials never respond to their complaints. Shanthi, a resident, said water stagnates in the lane whenever it rains. She complained that heavy rains aggravates the situation with water gushing into the houses. Draining of water from the houses becomes a Herculean task, she said.

“We live in a pathetic state despite all the top leaders such as Revanna and Ananth Kumar residing in the next lane. Even Zameer Ahmed lived in the same lane as tenant for sometime and due to the regular flooding, he moved away to some other place,” she said.