Bengaluru: People jaywalk, jump over road dividers and dodge heavy vehicles to cover the inter modal gap at Majestic. With KSRTC, BMTC, BMRCL stations on one side and Krantiveera Sangoli Rayanna Railway station on the other, the only saving grace is the underground subway. However, commuter prefers not to use this subway at Gubbi Thotdappa road.
“It is occupied by hawkers on either sides, coming in the way of passengers. Anti social activities like eve-teasing, prostitutes soliciting customers also take place. It is unfortunate that no one can go there at any point of the day. Police rarely come and remove the hawkers. BBMP has also abdicated its responsibility to maintain it,” said Krishna Prasad, member of Karnataka Railway Vedike.
Vidya, who was briskly walking through the infamous subway on Sunday said, “Men touch you, brush past you, grope you while walking. There isn't any other option for me. I come from Gandhinagar by bus and then come to KSR railway station through this subway. I am forced to use this every day.”
In addition, the subway is also riddled with paan stains, plastic waste, puddles of rain water.
“This is time first time I am coming here. I just came to drop off someone at the railway station. I didn't want to cross with traffic on the road and it is safe to say, I will never come back here again,” declared Tabu, further adding, “It is so unhygienic. There is garbage everywhere, and I feel unsafe. I only took it to reach the Volvo bus platform. Next time, I will just use my car to travel here.”
Prasad remarked the subway is a black mark on the city. When people coming from other cities use this subway, it will create a bad impression of the city, he regretted.
“Even if officials evict vendors one day, the stalls reappear the next day. All government bodies must be involved in these illegal activities, getting their due, while commuters suffer. Why then are authorities doing nothing about it?” he questioned.
BBMP Chief Engineer (West) Govindaraju and AEE Gandhinagar Raju were unavailable to comment, despite repeated attempts.
