RailEnquiry

Bengaluru: The nightmare began for people living on the stretch of road from Maruthi Mandir to Vijaynagar when work on the Metro Rail  began here two or three years ago. Despite being one of the busiest roads in the area, it is today filled with crater- like potholes that make driving on it a back-breaking exercise.“We have complained several times to the BBMP about the condition of the road but it has ignored us. We only receive false assurances,"complains an agitated resident, Reena Balakrishnan. While people are aware of the advantages of having a Metro Rail in their midst , they don't see why they have to live in such a mess for years. To their despair the work on the Metro Rail  is still plodding along. But having reached the end of their patience, the people are in no mood to wait much longer for the road to be repaired."The BBMP can at least temporarily fill the potholes and make the road motorable," says a commuter, pointing out that the poor streetlighting makes it  even riskier to drive on the road, especially for women and the elderly.  To compound the people's problems, the road is narrow, forcing traffic to move at a snail’s pace and causing traffic jams. There is also fear that once the monsoon arrives and fills the potholes with water, driving on the road could get even more dangerous. Ask a  Metro construction worker about when the nightmare is likely to end and he says, “We have a lot of work lefton Metro rail. So it will easily take another year to complete.”

 When contacted BBMP Chief Engineer (South zone), Sidde Gowda, however, promised to repair the road at Vijayanagar  by the end of March.