The many twists and turns witnessed by Karnataka in the political sphere in the last month has not changed much on Bengaluru’s roads. The generous pre-monsoon showers and the early arrival of the monsoon have not helped the cause either.
Users of Outer Ring Road, especially the stretch near Doddanekundi twin-flyover (between Mahadevapura and Marathahalli), are angry as the stretch gets inundated at even slightest hint of rain.
Residents blame part of the flooding problem to Bengaluru Development Authority’s shoddy engineering with regard to the flyover, and to the lack of coordination between several government bodies.
“The service road is not motorable at all because there is simultaneous work being done by the BESCOM (Electricity Board), which is removing street lamps and putting in cables underground, and BDA which is fixing the storm-water drains. So the road is inundated each time it rains,” says Clement Jayakumar, who uses the road regularly.
“Last Friday, due to the heavy rains, the middle portion between the two flyovers saw about 1 feet of water accumulated in it, because of the poor design of the drainage of the flyover and the partial completion of the drainage work by the BDA. If one is coming from RMZ Ecoworld to Doddanekundi, they will take an additional two hours to reach. It usually takes 45 minutes,” he added.
Another user and a local resident, Avnish said, “Once water accumulates, it is stagnant there for at least one or two hours.”
It’s not like things are better when it doesn’t rain either. The road, due to improper maintenance, is filled with potholes - big enough to trap cars. Dysfunctional street lights, debris lying on the road and a lack of signages makes it hell for pedestrians and drivers alike.
A lack of barricades allows vehicles to criss-cross at any point in this 750-metre stretch and a lack of pedestrian islands make it an accident-prone zone.
Clement added, “As residents, we have tried all possible ways for the last 18 months to bring some basic civic infrastructure at the grade level. We have failed miserably in spite of spending days, weeks coordinating with all government offices.”
“This is complete apathy from the BDA engineers. Really wonder how they sleep peacefully when thousands of lives are in danger,” he added.
Irked by the inaction, citizens are mulling whether to file a Public Interest Litigation, complaining deliberate inaction by the authorities for their troubles, especially after the elongated construction period they were forced to ensure.
The BDA had taken up the project in 2015, but the flyover was opened for use only after March 2018.
The Bengaluru Mayor and the BDA chief could not be reached for a comment.