Ugadi gift? BBMP moves in earth movers to dig up road ahead of festivities

Manjunath Hadimani | NT

The residents of Thyagarajanagar, who were busy preparing for the forthcoming Ugadi, were shocked to see BBMP’s earth movers roll in on Friday morning and bulldoze the entire Sir M. Vishweshwaraiah Road for white topping. They claim the civic authority had not informed them before taking up such a drastic step. The road is located at Bhairappa Block of Yediyur ward (167).

“Today morning everything was fine, when I came back from the office in the evening I was surprised to see this. Nobody around here was informed before, who will take the permission from the public sir? They will make their own decision. Ugadi is in two days’ time and look at the condition in front of our home, is this the festival gift to us?” said Ramesh, a resident of Bhairappa Block questioning the BBMP authorities.

Ganesh, who uses this road on a daily basis, said “This has been the condition of the city for many days now, no instructions, nothing. This happens across the city. The route you take in the morning will be shut in the evening, a surprise by BBMP? We have been helpless as citizens, no proper roads, instant road closures are of the main concerns for commuters in the city.”

“This road was concreted a few years back and after that dug up by Bangalore Water Supply and Sewerage Board (BWSSB) for sanitary work. BBMP has started road work now but don’t know when they will complete it? We don’t know whether the BWSSB is planning something after this. This is all a drama,” remarked Chandru, a local resident.

Reacting to this Yatish, Assistant Engineer of the ward claimed that the project would take 15 days to complete, after which people can commute as usual.

When asked about informing people in advance, Yatish agreed that they could not inform. “We will make sure we will clean up before the festival and start the road work after that,” he said. We want to ensure that the residents face no difficulties.