Bengaluru Metro needed but not the mess and debris!

Bengaluru: For years now, the people of south Bengaluru have been waiting for metro connectivity. But all that they have got instead,  are bad roads littered with construction debris and encroachments  on public spaces.

Sanjeev Kumar, a resident of Jayanagar South End Circle points out, "Our road has been in a pathetic condition since the day the metro took up its construction work. The stretch is ready, but the road is far from smooth. In fact it is a nightnare for two-wheelers."

Throwing light on a different issue, Sandeep Katti complains, " The medians have become a hub for garbage and waste materials. There is construction rubble dumped on the sides of the roads,  narrowing them even further."

The blame game between BMRCL and BBMP continues. A BMRCL source says, "We have restored the road that metro had taken up during construction, now it is the duty of the BBMP to maintain it.”

Voicing concern over  the garbage problem in the metro median, Bhuvan Kumar, a shopkeeper says, “We have seen people coming here as late as 11 in the night and as early as 6 in the morning and throwing out huge garbage bags from their posh four-wheelers and two-wheelers. It is obvious from all this that we need lessons in civic sense and responsibility. This is one of the posh localities in the  city and if people living here behave like this and the authorities keep mum, what else can anyone say?”

Long back, BMRCL had planted saplings on the metro medians, including CMH Road. Gradually, regular debris dumping led to the disappearance of these medians. Rakshitha Mukherjee, another resident, points out, “The metro pillars and the remnants of the medians are an eyesore. In addition, the  garbage dumped here emits an obnoxious odour. There’s even defacement of the place with  all sorts of posters being plastered on the pillars and everywhere else. Nobody has bothered to address the issue.”