Potholes plague Bellandur residents

A road in front of Nelivigi Eye Hospital Bellandur is in bad condition with potholes since the past few years; monsoon makes the situation worse.

By Labani Mahanandy

The entire road in front of the Nelivigi Eye Hospital, opposite the Bellandur Central Mall, is in a poor condition. Residents find it difficult to walk on the road which is full of potholes. In the monsoon, the situation worsens. This is a busy road with vehicles plying on it all day long.

Residents of the area have been living in this situation since years. A resident of the area Dr. V. K. Sharma said, “This road has been like this since almost three to five years, though the situation has worsened recently. During monsoon it is very inconvenient to use the road and people often fall here. Last night a friend of mine had fallen in one of these potholes and hurt his back.”

Many people are shifting from that area as it is becoming hard for them to use their vehicle or walk on that road. One person who is moving out of the place, Mukesh Aggarwal says, “I am living here since the last six months and the condition of the road has been the same ever since. I have a bike but every time it rains it becomes impossible for me to take my bike out in that mud. I am already searching for a flat nearby and probably will shift in a few days.”

Nelivigi Eye Hospital authority has complained to the Corporatorof BBMP,Asha Suresh several times. She promises to solve the problem in few months but never takes any action say people from the hospital. Dr.Sirish K from Nelivigi Eye Hospital said, “The condition of the road has not changed since years. We complain, they promise to fix the road in few months and that day hasn’t yet arrived.”

The residents complain that BBMP does not build the roads while BBMP says that they were unaware of the condition of the roads. The Executive Engineer of BBMP Bellandur office, Mr. Narayan Swami said “I have been transferred here only a few months ago. I know about the BWSSB having dug up roads over there for the Kaveri river water pipeline laying but I didn’t know about this road.”

To add to the situation BWSSB has left the main road dug up as well for over a year. The Executive Engineer of BBMP told The Softcopy that the roads of Bellandur are dug-up for Kaveri water supply pipeline laying. Even this work is going slow due to some miscoordination between BWSSB and the company they had given the tender to work.

Mr.Rajasekhara, superintendent engineer of BWSSB said, “We have started the work already. We need some more time to finish the work.”

Mr.Raghavendra, who oversees the work states, “We got the tender last year but the permission from BWSSB to start work came late. That’s why we couldn’t start the work early. I know the road is left dug-up over a year, but I couldn’t do anything in that matter.”

Dr. V. Ramesh, HOD, civil engineering department of Raja Rajeshwari college said, “BBMP is not working and maintaining the roads even when the area comes under them. This is not the only place under this condition especially during monsoon. They should work on it immediately.”

“As the issue came into our notice we will look into the matter and will solve it in some time,” a BBMP official told The Softcopy.