It was in February that the users of Thubarahalli Extended Road of 250-300 metre in length on Bengaluru’s periphery thought that their misery was over. Ahead of the Lok Sabha elections, the local corporator Shewta Vijayakumar (Doddanekkundi ward), MLA Arvind Limbavali and MP PC Mohan had come for the bhumi pooja for laying this small stretch of road.
But the work stopped before it began as the Model Code of Conduct (MCC) for the Lok Sabha elections was put into effect in April and the work never began since then.
The local residents and regular users of the roads including the students of Vibgyor School were managing with the mud roads with no trace of bitumen for years. But the situation has worsened with the frequent heavy rains. The recent rains have meant that there is no road and it is accessible to only four-wheelers.
Those affected due to this include all those heading towards the Vibgyor High School and 500-odd residents of the area.
“While there was much fanfare on the inauguration day, there was no real work. They started digging sides of the road to level it, but work stopped soon after. Now due to the rains, we cannot step out of our houses, the entire stretch between Thubharalli Bus Stand to Silver Oak Apartment is inaccessible. The same condition is prevalent for two years,” a resident of the Thubarahalli Extended Road Resident's Welfare Association told TNM.
“Forget walking in the mud pool, we cannot even use our two-wheelers. People are forced to use their cars for very short distances and minor errands. We have gone to the corporator multiple times but nothing has changed. We have tried to reach the MLA and the MP on Twitter but have not got any response,” he added.
And now the residents have to deal with an extended period of civic apathy due to red tape by Chief Minister BS Yediyurappa. The temporary halt on issuing any work order until the BBMP’s budgetary outlay of 2019-20 is approved by the state cabinet as ordered by the CM, means that work on their road is postponed indefinitely.
“Work can be done in a very quick time once the work order is issued. Otherwise, there can’t be any solution. It is not only here but in the whole of Bengaluru, work has stopped due to the CM’s order. The earlier tender was cancelled due to the model code of conduct and the process had to be done again,” Vijaykumar, the corporator’s husband (on behalf of the corporator) told TNM.