BENGALURU: A stretch of less than 100m in Gangammana Gudi, off Jalahalli, has been awaiting BBMP repair for over three years, much to the frustration of residents of an apartment complex in the area.
The dirt track has been riddled with potholes and puddles for weeks now, forcing walkers to hop around them and motorists to drive haphazardly.
It is the only major approach road, not only to the apartment complex with over 1,000 flats but also Gangammana Gudi police station and several other residential pockets such as Kuvempunagar, Jalahalli East and Naidu Layout.
The residents have tried everything from approaching the former corporator and BBMP chief commissioner to flooding the civic body’s Sahaaya app with complaints. Some have used social media to highlight their woes, but nothing has worked.
Shreejit Nair, a resident of the apartment complex, said, “Thousands of vehicles use this road daily. How hard is it to fix a stretch of 100m? Why have they taken over three years? At this point, we don’t even expect BBMP to asphalt the stretch. All we request them is to even it out.”
Many residents pointed out that the number of people skidding on the stretch has gone up since monsoon set in, especially at night as there is no streetlight.
“Its condition has worsened over the last three years. The corporator had seen the stretch and even promised to have it fixed at the earliest,” Nair said.
The road connects Gangammana Gudi police station to Kuvempunagar. If people take a detour to avoid it, they have to travel more than 1.5km.
Unni Krishnan Menon, another resident, said, “The state of the road is so bad that auto and cab drivers refuse to come all the way to our apartment. Now that schools have started offline, even their bus drivers refuse to come to the gate.”
Meanwhile, maids who often set out to work early in the day are complaining to their employers about how they are finding it difficult to cross the stretch, especially when it rains.
Swayam Prabha Nair, who has had more than one mishap on the road, said, “As recently as Tuesday evening, I lost balance on this stretch and a passer-by had to help me. Many such incidents have happened.”
Ward-level executive engineer Mohan Das said the road is the responsibility of the major roads department. However, Shivakumar, executive engineer of major roads, doubted this and said he would check and revert.
