Bengaluru: For shopkeepers and residents on Kushal Nagar near Nagavara Main Road it is a daily battle against sewage water and stench, in addition to broken roads.
Around 20 days ago, local resident Prema Manjunath, her husband and neighbours had gone to the BBMP office to file a complaint. "The Nagavara main road had some blocks in the sewer line. As a result the drainage floods the side of the road, stinking up the place. Our shop and home adjoin the road and life is hell," Prema said. However, nothing has happened since they filed complaint.
"The road is broken and dug up on the sides. They have not replaced or repaired the pipes. When we questioned them, they said the engineers could not identify the source of blockage. What is their qualification then?" an angry Prema wondered.
She added that now they have sewer water flooding the entire stretch and a broken road to make matters worse. The second problem is the long strip of rocky mud-path, almost in the middle of the road. It goes along a major stretch of Nagavara main road that leads to placeslike the Airport and Manyata Tech Park.“One month ago, they began placing the water pipe line and finished the work. To this day, it has been left uncovered, without tar. This has made the whole place dusty due to wind and vehicles, so I have to keep cleaning my fruits all the time," said Kamrul Islam, a fruit vendor pointing to his cart of mangoes and bananas.
Kamrul said that motorists encounter minor accidents due to the rocky road and traffic jams. When one-fourth of a two-way major road is inaccessible, all hell breaks loose during peak hours, he added. Residents opine that just the way a traffic cop fines a motorist for not wearing helmet, someone should fine the BBMP and BWSSB for failing to do their job.
‘Road repairs only after water, sewage pipes are laid’
Interview with Corporator Umme Salma, Kushal Nagar ward.
Why was the Nagawara main road dug up?
The population in this area has grown over the years leading to drinking water shortage. Hence we decided to get a connection for Cauvery water. Five wards, including ours, are undertaking this work, with the pipeline touching Tannery Road and ending at Richards Park.
What is reason for delay?
Since the water line runs across many roads, it also has to connect with the cross roads, branch out wherever needed. Another factor is that traffic police did not give us permission easily, or we would have started six months back. After a meeting with Bengaluru Development Minister K.J. George, BWSSB, BBMP and traffic police, they agreed. Even now, we are only allowed to work at night, which delays the progress.
Residents have petitioned for repair of flooding sewer pipes...
There are 2 to 3 sublines of the sewer pipes that we have to clear. There is some blockade, for which we dug up the road. It will take five more days to remove the jammed pipes.
What is deadline for restoring the roads?
The issue is we cannot start road repair right now, as water and sewer lines are being laid or repaired. If we do it for individual sections and some pipe work has to be redone, we will have to dig it again. We have decided to finish the BWSSB work in eight days and then lay fresh tar all over.
