Remember the September 15 deadline that Bengaluru Development Minister and Karnataka Deputy Chief Minister G Parameshwara had himself once set to put up a motorable road and footpath in Bengaluru’s Doddanekundi? Well, it is close to two weeks since the deadline has passed, yet, there are no signs of development. In fact, nothing has changed for the people using the Doddanekundi junction (between Mahadevapura and Marathahalli) on the Outer Ring Road.
On June 30, during an official visit, Parameshwara had promised a group of irate residents that there will not only be a motorable road but also paved footpath for pedestrians. The roads, which were already in a dilapidated condition and prone to traffic jams due to the flyover construction, was dug out in bits for various civic works but were never repaired.
Bhavani B, who frequently takes the stretch, said, “The residents never took the deadline seriously. But the situation is getting worse with every passing day during the rains. The whole place is dug up and every day, there would be a new digging work by some authority. For us, potholes are not an issue, as the other stretches of roads are in bad condition. There has been no repair work.”
She added, “Despite the High Court warning, the BBMP did not try to fill up the potholes as the roads in Doddanekundi are dug up in multiple areas.”
Bad roads and non-existent pavements are not the only problems the commuters face, various government agencies such as GAIL, BWSSB and BSNL generously dump debris haphazardly on the stretch.
Suman Senapati, another regular user of the road, said, “Filling potholes is a temporary fix, which gets washed away with every rain. Last night, the civic body started putting stone chips on the muddy roads, but the rear wheels of smaller vehicles, like auto rickshaws and small pick-up vans, got stuck in it. It has been more than five months since we have been facing the issue; we don’t know when will it be resolved.”
At first, the residents and commuters had to wait for three years for a twin 750m long flyover to come up; now, they have to deal with craters on roads that are big enough to trap big trucks.
The Bengaluru Development Authority had taken up the project in 2015, but the flyover was opened for use only after March 2018. Moreover, even after a major delay in finishing the work, the area below the flyover gets completely inundated even with light showers, due to lack of proper drainage facility at the bridge.