Lag in Sanjaynagar main road works frustrates businesses and commuters

Bengaluru

In Sanjaynagar, white-topping of the main road has been going on for about seven months. The preliminary works allowed businesses to operate normally. The footpaths were intact, the roads still wide enough for vehicles to park and not disrupt the flow of traffic. Presently, however, part of the road near the Bellary Road end has been closed to all traffic except two wheelers as cars and autos cannot share space with the oncoming vehicles on the narrow strip of usable road. This has led to customers dwindling for businesses on the main road.

“Business has come down about 50 percent. There’s no walk-ins and there’s no place to park so both customers and staff have trouble coming to the store. They keep closing the road as well so we’re not in a good time for the business,” said Rahul, the owner of a cake shop on the road. The work being carried on includes white-topping of the road, pipe-laying and sewage works, organizing all utilities underground and footpath laying. While the white-topping has been completed until a point, there is still sewage works remaining, which are being carried out by BWSSB.

Due to this, the space between the footpath and the road consists of deep ditches where vehicles can’t go and would be dangerous for people with mobility issues such as the elderly and the disabled. “The work has drastically reduced business for us. Especially in the season we usually have good business because of summer holidays but because of the road there are no walk-ins. With such a condition, how can kids or elderly people use the road? It’s been like this for 6 or 7 months and doesn’t seem to be finishing soon,” said Manoj, manager of a sports store on the road.

“It is so hard to use the road. I came here to visit the clinic and there’s no place to park. For the elderly it is very hard to even come and go from here. While the work is going on there will be an issue here. But after it’s finished it will be fine and good for the people,” said Bhargav, who commutes on the road to visit the clinic. The road is a commercial hub and beyond the main road are the residences of the people who opposed the white-topping when it was proposed.

They are now resigned to the work and everything it has kicked up, only asking for it to be over soon. On a recent visit to the road, News Trail observed that the work was actively being done with several teams posted on the stretch. Police constables had also been posted to regulate traffic at both ends of the part of the road where the white-topping was being done. However, traffic jams were a regular occurrence and commuters were finding it very difficult to use the roads. The residents and businesses appealed to the authorities to quickly complete the work so that normal life could resume for them.