Bengaluru: Bad roads in TC Palya and Horamavu are not only making commuting difficult for residents, but they are also the reason why cab drivers are refusing to ply to these areas.
Cab drivers decline requests and cancel rides the moment they realise that the destination or pickup points are TC Palya Main Road near Ramamurthy Nagar and Horamavu Main Road, which are completely dug up. As these stretches do not have a regular BMTC bus service, people depend a lot on cabs for their commute. Recently, the residents of the two areas protested but they did not elicit get the desired response from local BBMP officials and corporators.
Mr Nagaraju Kumar, a resident of Horamavu and a techie, is furious that they are neither able to take out their vehicles nor get cabs. "It has been over two months since we have taken out our cars as the roads are in a pathetic condition. We thought that things would get better, but they are only getting worse. There is no one to look into the issue. Now cab drivers too are refusing to ply on these stretches as they say their vehicles get damaged. When we book a cab and tell the driver the drop location as Horamavu Main Road, they immediately cancel it."
Ms Roopa Iyer, a resident of TC Palya Main Road, too said that most of the cab drivers refuse to pick her up from her place, as they know the condition of the road. "We don't have proper BMTC bus services and these areas are being neglected completely by the BBMP and officials. The roads need to be redone completely, as they have dug up it up to lay underground pipes but have covered it shabbily," she said.
When DC checked, a few cab drivers admitted that they do not take rides from or to TC Palya and Horamavu main roads. Siddesh, a cab driver, said, "When get a pick up or drop point, we ask the customer about the location and when they tell us that is either of these two roads, we cancel the ride. We cannot afford to get our vehicles damaged and then spend money on repair."
He said, "We are scared to drive on these roads and you can imagine the condition of the road. If the BBMP doesn't repair them now, craters will soon be around 3 to 4 feet."
Another driver, Muniswamy, too said that he has stopped plying to these two roads as he thinks there are high chances of the vehicle getting stuck in potholes. "Another reason we don't ply on these roads is the dust. At times, we cannot even see a few metres ahead of us. I have never seen such roads in the past. Politicians and officials are sleeping over the problem, and we do not know why," he said.
