Babus’ Tunnel Vision costs residents dear

Wind Tunnel road asphalting not done even after 3 years

Y. Maheswara Reddy | NT

Bengaluru: The current plight of Wind Tunnel Road is a good example of what can happen if the civic agencies lack coordination and work at cross purposes. The road abutting the HAL Airport boundary wall was dug up three years ago by BWSSB to lay drainage pipes. BBMP dragged its feet over its restoration, despite repeated pleas by local residents. Now that it has made up its mind, Bescom wants to lay underground power cables!

The local residents now want Bescom to finish its work, as they don’t want the road to be dug up again after it is asphalted. “We have been appealing to the BBMP authorities to postpone asphalting for a few days to facilitate Bescom to lay the much-delayed underground electrical cable. It will be prudent to asphalt the road after completion of underground electrical cable work,” said Poornima Shetty, a resident.

It is learnt the residents have been appealing to the BBMP authorities for three years to restore the road that was dug up for laying underground drainage pipes. BWSSB completed the laying of underground pipes three years ago, but the BBMP authorities failed to restore the road.

“The laying of underground electrical cable has been completed in neighboring areas. It has been pending in this area for quite some time. We have appealed to the Bescom engineers to begin underground electrical cable work before the BBMP begins asphalting, but in vain,’’ said Poornima Shetty.

Another resident, pleading anonymity, has said the Bescom engineers are under pressure from politicians and contractors not to begin the laying of underground electrical cable in the area. “The elected representatives and politicians were silent for three years despite repeated complaints from the residents. Now, they are in a terrible hurry to asphalt the road without bothering about the possibility of digging the road again for laying the electrical cable,’’ said the resident.

All these years, people residing along the Wind Tunnel Road used to clean their homes three times a day. “We have been suffering a lot due to the dust. The road is not only safe for motorists but also for pedestrians,’’ said a resident.

Meanwhile, Bescom junior engineer said that a tender process has been completed for laying the underground cable on Wind Tunnel Road and other areas. “I have already informed higher authorities about asphalting the Wind Tunnel Road. We need 15 days to complete laying the underground electrical cable (9.5 km). We can go ahead with it without any hassles if the asphalting of the road is postponed,’’ said the engineer added.