Unclaimed work on Jayamahal Road

BANGALORE: Jayamahal Road seems to be making news everyday, however, for all the wrong reasons. Be it the road widening project or a road riddled with potholes, the road is perpetually laden with problems. The recent reason, the work that has been undertaken by the Bangalore Water Supply and Sewerage Board (BWSSB).A huge crater in the middle of the road, once again, has left commuters in a lurch.Accompanying the work is mud and sand on the road, heaps of construction material along the roadside and the typical pothole problems.While Jayamahal and its tale of woes do not seem to have an end, this time the action taken by the authorities has left commuters frustrated and fuming at the repeated distress they are put in on the pretext of work.The crater itself covers a little less than half of the road. But more perilous is the scattered construction material through the stretch of the road. A few branches and a barricade have been used to warn the motorists of the work and the mess that it has left ahead. While the block notifies the people of the manhole present on the road, what it does not do is, warn them about the concerns it brings with it.A motorist on the road, Ashritha, remarked, “The visibility of these ‘warnings’ is very poor. As a result, one notices them very late. Also the sand on the road could result in skids while the branches could hurt someone.It gets quite difficult to make through the road unscathed.Also, the buses tend to keep to only one side of the road making it very perilous for all other vehicles to traverse through.” In addition to the above hassles, a pothole on the street, in close proximity to the bus stop leaves road users in a dilemma. On a rainy day, it takes more than 30 minutes to pass through the Jayamahal Road. Shanti, a bus passenger, said, “Its a bumpy ride whenever one decides to commute on this road. To add to it, the jams also cause a delay in commuting.They have been working for six days, how much longer will they take?” The footpath too wasn’t spared. In many places, broken slabs and garbage greets one on the road. As the situation deteriorates each day, commuters wonder when any action will be taken by the concerned authorities.The local corporator of the area MK Gunashekar, was unaware of any work in process. He said, “I will visit the area tomorrow and see what I can do.”