BANGALORE: As new localities in Bangalore make their way forward into the future with new tarred roads, street lights and garbage segregation, the locality of New Thippasandra seems to be taking a huge step backwards. Located amidst the continuously growing areas of Indiranagar and Jeevanbheemanagar, this small region seems to be sinking under the burden of its expectations.The 4th Main Road, located in close proximity to the Thippasandra market, has been dug up for the past several weeks on the pretext of ‘sanitary works’. What seems to have been conveniently forgotten by the Bangalore Water Supply and Sewerage Board (BWSSB) is the severe misery that the residents and commuters are put through.What is the work?The entire stretch of the road is being replaced with 450 mm pipes. It will cover the road till Indiranagar 80Feet Road. The major reason for the move has been to avoid overflow as the authorities had received complaints about the same from the residents.Road here is left and right not centreThe complete stretch of the street has been dug up. The only part that has been left available to use by the vehicles is a few metres towards the extreme ends of the road. The road handles traffic from the 5th cross to the 6th cross, thereby, acting as a connecting road. A manhole at the center of the road aggravates the complete affair. A motorist on the road, Manjula, said, “It is a torture. Incidents where a car’s tyre gets embedded onto the road and several people have to come and help him out of it, is routine here.”Skipping stonesResidents have found out their way out of the dilemma by installing in the soil, stone slabs, which substitutes for the lack of a regular footpath. The only problem with the same, now, seems to be the fact that the mud now has submerged the slabs. The recent rains add to the issue as getting through a muddy water-filled road is much more perilous than just traversing through a muddy road.A pedestrian on the street, Gopi, voiced his grievances as well. He said, “You need hiking boots to get through this messy and dirty area. It’s muddy, difficult to walk through. Earlier, I used to cycle my way through the road but now it is a distant dream.”Make your way through the dumpAt the end of the 4th Main Road on 6th Cross, a pile of waste has been dumped by the residents. While this narrates the story of most areas of the city, it causes a commotion here as the condition of the road added to the garbage leaves no space for the vehicles to pass. A motorist on the road, Swati, said that the only way out is to walk through the garbage.Time and money matterOfficials from the BWSSB claim that the work has been in progress only from the past two-three days. The whole project has been given a budget of `25 lakhs. Residents, on the other hand, say that it is humanly impossible to finish the digging up of an entire stretch of the road in that period of time mainly if it is by the BWWSB. They question the authorities on why their pathetic state of living hasn’t improved one bit from the past two to three weeks.Authorities’ viewThe local corporator of the area is Sumithra. She said, “The work will be completed in less than 15 days.” The engineer-in-chief for the BWSSB, T Venkatraju, asserted that the work would be completed by the end of the month and further added that it would be beneficial for everyone.As the residents of 4th Main, New Thippasandra continue to bear the brunt of the extreme stress that the dug up road is putting them under, the citizens of Rama Temple Road complain that they are struggling no less.While the Bangalore Water Supply and Sewerage Board’s (BWSSB) work on covering drains and laying neat pavements has been ‘in progress’ for the past two months or so, residents question them on why the laying of a few stone slabs and cleaning work is taking so long.With prominent temples such as Aiyappa Temple and the Rama Temple, the road draws people from all over the locality to it. But visitors are definitely not happy with what they are greeted to.Stone slabs discarded everywhere seems to be the hallmark of the street. Making your way through these, could be a huge adventure. While the drains remain open, it creates fear in the residents about the kind of threat it could pose. A resident, on the condition of anonymity, echoed the thoughts of many people living in the area.He remarked, “Forget neat footpaths, give us a place to walk. Before the so-called work started, we atleast had a space to walk our way through.” However, in a particular expanse of the road, the blocks have been stacked up against the wall in a suitable manner. “When this can be done in one place, why isn’t it done in the other?” asked Seles, a passer-by.The worst affected are the pedestrians as they are left with no space whatsoever to walk through.A pedestrian on the road, Gautam, added that while the residents were quite happy with the fact that the BWSSB had finally decided to take action based on their frequent complaints, they had expected the work to take only a few days.Another major area of concern is the hop skip and jump that the residents are required to do. One pavement block has been laid with the next one being a good five blocks away. This could end up in someone’s leg getting stuck in the drain. However, it does not seem to qualify as an area of concern for the authorities.As a further addition to the chaos already created with the road, private apartments, flouting all rules, discard construction material, without a second thought, in the center of the road. Heaps of sand, debris and crushed stone are a common sight here. The end of the road brings with it garbage as well. Wastes from the entire residential area is disposed off in front of a hut in the locality.The local corporator, Sumithra, said, “We are doing work for the welfare of the people itself. I will ensure that the work is completed soon.”
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