An Avenue littered with chaos!

Footpath work to miss deadline, pedestrians’ lives at risk.

Y. Maheswara Reddy | NT

Bengaluru: Footpath work on the bustling Avenue Road in the heart of the city has been moving at a snail’s pace and shoppers and traders will have to put up with two more months of chaos.

As per the schedule, all developmental works have to be completed by the end of this month, but Bangalore Smart City Limited (BSCL) has managed to complete only white topping work to some extent. The then Bruhat Bengaluru Mahanagara Palike (BBMP) Commissioner N Manjunath Prasad had announced in March that development of Avenue Road would be completed by this year’s end.

He has also stated that the 1.80-km long road would be developed in three phases to avoid inconvenience to the public and disruption of business. However, the BSCL is yet to decide what to do with a patch of Avenue Road at Chickpet Junction near City Market Traffic Police Chowki. “We are yet to decide on the design of Chickpet Junction. It will take some more time to develop the junction,’’ said a BSCL assistant engineer.

With street vendors occupying most of the space on both sides of the road, there is hardly any space for pedestrians. As if it is not enough, the pedestrians have to compete with trolleys, autorickshaws and two-wheelers.

“There is no safety for pedestrians on this road. As there are no footpaths on this road, pedestrians have no other option than walking on the road thus risking their lives,’’ said Krishne Gowda, a pedestrian. Gopal T, a social activist, has blamed the BSCL authorities for not completing the developmental works as per schedule. “The contractor has been engaging two or three workers to complete the pending work. Is it possible to complete the developmental works on time with such a small number of workers?’’ asks Gopal, adding that BSCL engineer has failed to supervise the ongoing developmental works.

Vivek, a businessman, said the BSCL engineers are not bothered about either the sub-standard quality or pending works on Avenue Road. He said that it has become a routine for the authorities to shift the blame on others.

“We are fed up with the delay in completing the pending works. To develop the footpaths and complete the pending works, the BSCL engineers are blaming the Bangalore Water Supply and Sewerage Board (BWSSB) authorities for the delay. Waste water chambers, constructed recently, have already been choked. I expect the authorities concerned to complete all the pending works as early as possible,’’ said Vivek.

Meanwhile, the BSCL assistant engineer has blamed the businessmen on Avenue Road for dumping waste in chambers. “Many businessmen dump garbage in chambers and drains. As far as the delay in completing the pending works, there is hardly any time or space for workers to complete the pending works during the day. The workers have to wait till 11 pm to commence the work. They have to stop the work by 3 am as many vendors occupy the vacant space on Avenue Road,” said the BSCL assistant engineer, adding that the development of footpaths will be completed by the end of January or February.