Bengaluru: It looks like the Cottonpet Main Road, the major connecting street to South Bengaluru may take some more months to reopen for vehicular traffic.
The 1.14-km road, which has remained closed for white topping under the TenderSURE project since the beginning of 2019, is still in the process of shifting utilities, such as underground cables, drains and building stormwater drains.
Commuters, business units and schoolchildren are bearing the brunt because of lack of coordination between the BBMP, BWSSB and Bescom.
“The road was closed for traffic in February and is yet to reopen. All these months, the officials have not yet made provisions for shifting utilities like cables, water and sewage pipelines,” said Mr Mohammed Asis, a hotelier.
“We have lost our business. Our children who are studying in a private school in the area are also struggling to head to school and return home. When it rains the situation gets further aggravated,” he lamented.
Commuters who head to Chamarajpet, Hanumanthnagar, Kathriguppe, Mysuru Road, Nayandahalli, Kengeri and further are affected as all the buses which earlier passed through Cottonpet, are using alternative roads, increasing their commute time, said Ms Shanthi, a daily wager working near Majestic.
“Like the old adage of medicine being harsher than the disease, the solution to pothole-ridden roads in the form of white topping has sucked away peace of our lives. Will our owner accept that I will not pay him the rent till the road gets completed? Whether I do business or not, I will have to pay a rent of Rs 1,500 per day to the owner,” laments Mr Shiva Kumar, who runs a bakery on Cottonpet Main Road, who has lost almost 60 percent of his business after the road was closed.
It was almost two months ago that Mayor Gangambike inspected the area and since then there has been no significant improvement and it looks like the road will not be reopened till the end of this year.
When Deccan Chronicle took up the issue with Ms Gangambike, she accepted that the works are getting delayed due to lack of coordination between the BBMP and BWSSB.
“As the work of building storm water drain, shifting underground cables and making facilities for OFC ducts has taken time, the road is not yet completed. We have requested the BWSSB to finish their work soon so that our officials can start the white topping work,” she said.
