With more rains forecasted till Thursday, Whitefield residents in the city are in a for a tough time ahead. Even with little rain of just 3cm over the weekend, the 2-km-stretch of Kadugodi Road leading to Chrysalis High School near Belathur from HP Petrol Pump, was under water on Monday morning, inconveniencing students and their parents.
Hundreds of children have to use the road on a daily basis but locals point out that the road has been left untarred for a year now. And with little rain, the stretch turns to a mini-pond and becomes difficult to negotiate, especially for parents who drop their children on bicycles or motorbikes.
Even when the water recedes, people on foot are forced to wade through the muddy puddles.
Never ending issues with the Road leading to Chrysalis High Kadugodi. Around 1000 students commute via this road along with Parents in two wheelers/cycles. No progress yet after meeting with @bjparvind.
— Abhishek Roy (@royab21) September 17, 2018
Can @WFRising please help here.. https://t.co/MnvUkynSfY
Road to my kid's school - Chrysalis High, Kadugodi. State of road in one rain. #Bengaluru
— Tinu Cherian Abraham (@tinucherian) September 17, 2018
Please help @BBMP_MAYOR @BBMPCOMM @CMofKarnataka @hd_kumaraswamy @bjparvind @Kar_Gov_24X7 @DrParameshwara @HMRevanna @PCMohanMP @ChiefSecKA pic.twitter.com/OhmUyuO1FS
The road users have pointed out to the authorities time and again but haven’t got a favourable result. Even a meeting with Mahadevapura MLA Arvind Limbavali failed to solve the problem.
Tinu Cherian Abraham, a prominent media professional, said,” Hundreds of kids study at this school. The road poses a safety risk to school buses and parents who go to drop kids there.”
A BBMP official confirmed that some houses in the low-lying areas of Kadugodi ward have water inside.
In the neighbouring Doddanekundi ward, the railway underpass was filled with water. Even parts of the road leading to the underpass had water stagnating on the surface. Thanks to the intervention of the BBMP workers, the debris blocking the drain was cleared late on Monday afternoon.
The area surrounding Varthur Lake also saw inundation after the rains, as water rose above the waste weir and flowed onto the roads.
However, the worst situation was experienced on the stretch near and under Doddanekundi twin-flyover. The already dilapidated roads turned into mini pools of water with craters large enough to trap trucks. On Monday, at least one truck was caught in one of the craters.
After many protests by the locals, the Deputy CM and Bengaluru Development Minister G Parameshwara had promised that this stretch would be repaired by September 15. But like the previous deadlines, this was also not met.
Rains over the weekend also resulted in inundation in front of Forum Value Mall, Columbia Asia Hospital, Big Bazar Junction and Hope Farm Junction.
On Monday, the Karnataka State Natural Disaster Monitoring Centre said that light to moderate rains would be seen in Bengaluru over the next few days. It had started raining in Bengaluru since Friday after a brief dry spell.