An urban ruin for 15 yrs: Citizens protest state of Whitefield road

Swathy R Iyer / TNN / Sep 8, 2019, 08:11 IST

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In a city that’s undergone rapid changes, Vibgyor School Road in Thubarahalli, a locality in tech hub Whitefield, has remained an appalling urban ruin for 15 years, say residents, who have launched a video campaign to highlight the issue.

An urban ruin for 15 yrs: Citizens protest state of Whitefield road

Craters open up on this stretch every monsoon, toppling two-wheeler riders and damaging car tyres

BENGALURU: In a city that’s undergone rapid changes, Vibgyor School Road in Thubarahalli, a locality in tech hub Whitefield, has remained an appalling urban ruin for 15 years, say residents, who have launched a video campaign to highlight the issue.
The video is the latest in a series of protests and online campaigns devised to draw attention to the problem. So far, none of them have worked.

Huge potholes open up every monsoon, toppling two-wheeler riders and damaging car tyres. In the summer, the road turns into a dusty, bumpy patch, putting commuters’ spines under stress and hundreds of schoolchildren at risk of developing a respiratory condition.

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As an artist demonstrated in a nifty production this week, you probably need a special suit to move around unhurt amidst the craters of Bengaluru. But behind the viral takeoff of the moonwalk and other larks, there’s anger over the condition of roads. Residents are struggling to countenance the levels of mismanagement and neglect in the tech capital, where robots now serve meals in restaurants, but civic agencies can’t conjure one low-tech fix to keep roads motorable. Where is the huge budget for infrastructure being spent? Authorities, especially the CM, who holds the portfolio of Bengaluru development, must find an answer to shrink the divide between the city’s exalted status and ground reality

“This road is so bad that the vehicle I use to take my daughter to school requires maintenance every two months,” said Devyani Chaudhury. Her daughter attends Vibgyor school.

“She has been attending the same school for over 12 years now and to date, we have not seen any improvement in the state of the road,” Chaudhury said. Residents claim the civic body, BBMP, carries out only “patchwork repairs” on the stretch instead of reconstructing it.
“BBMP officials have held foundation-stone laying ceremonies some four times. Each time, only a small part was repaired and that too shoddily,” said Raghu Kumar P, who lives in Samhita Greenwoods. “There are 12 apartment complexes on the stretch and over 5,000 residents traverse the route, the only accessway to their homes.”
According to a BBMP official, there is a legal dispute over 150ft of the road, and a stay order doesn’t allow any construction. “Private parties have staked claim to this part and obtained a stay on development work and other types of construction. BBMP is trying to acquire this land,” said BBMP executive engineer Munireddy. “The work on tarring the remaining part of the road will begin soon.”

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