One road, many problems

BANGALORE: The reopening of Miller’s Road brought a sigh of relief from residents as well as frequent commuters of the road. But the sigh didn’t last for long. Several deficiencies plague the road despite assurances from the authorities that the road would have no hassles after they were done with it. The road has been opened for all vehicles except the Bangalore Metropolitan Transport Corporation (BMTC) buses.   Rough driveMiller’s Road was closed on the pretext of ensuring that it is a pothole free road. But passengers say that there are no visible differences from the new road and the road that was present before. Several stones lay scattered all along the road. Deep trenches make it highly accident prone. Near the police station (chowki) on Cunningham Road, huge slabs of stone have been left unattended too. A motorist on the road, Sharath, said, “Navigating through the road has become extremely difficult. They have let down our expectations. We looked forward to using a clean, smooth and tarred road.”   Buses not allowed yetThe repair of the trench near the Vasanthnagar bus stop opposite Ambedkar Bhavan is still under completion. As the state of the road parallel to Miller’s Road just gets worse day by day, the bus travellers aren’t happy with what they are made to go through too. Jenifer Teena, a student of Mount Carmel College, said, “The closure of the bus stand is not good news for most of us. Having to deal with this along with the increase in bus charges takes a toll on us. Now we need to catch two buses instead of one to reach our destination.” Students from nearby colleges are now forced to use the Cantonment bus stop where there is no shelter to protect us from the scorching heat or the Cunningham Road bus stop which is quite a long walk she observed.Steely complicationTonnes of steel have been left towards both sides of the road decreasing, even further, the space for vehicles to travel through. In the area opposite to the Ambedkar Bhavan, the expanse of the road is just enough for a small car to pass through. When it rains, the woes just tend to increase multi-fold.Pedestrians’ dilemmaThe restoration of the road has left the pedestrians in a lurch. There is barely any room for them to walk through or cross the street. Steel as well as other scrap materials have been disposed off on the footpaths giving it a very different purpose than what it is meant to be — a walking track for the passerby’s. A pedestrian, Shanti, remarked that they had to walk until either the Thimmaiah Road junction or the Cunningham road junction in order to be able to reach the other side of the road.Other problemsWires that need to be covered have been left in the open. A drain overflow near Mahaveer Jain hospital worsens matters.  An auto driver, Ramesh, said, “I think all the problems will be sorted out within the coming few weeks. However, business is not as severely affected as it was a month back.”Authorities’ viewsThe authorities had assured the public that the work would be completed by now. The Bangalore Water Supply and Sewerage Board (BWSSB) executive engineer for the central zone said, “Our work in the area is done. We handed it over to the BBMP a long time back.” The BBMP chief engineer for east zone, Somashekhar, was unavailable for comments.