Footpath in shambles as contractors make hay

Y Maheswara Reddy | NT

Residents of Krishna Temple Road in Indiranagar have been demanding the Bruhat Bengaluru Mahanagara Palike (BBMP) engineers to inspect the ongoing developmental works to avoid use of tax-payers’ money to line the pockets of greedy and negligent contractors.

The residents have expressed shock and disappointment over the shoddy work done by a contractor assigned by the BBMP to develop the footpaths on Krishna Temple Road. They have also been demanding the BBMP assistant executive engineer to visit the spot to supervise the quality of the work on a daily basis.

“We are very happy with the BBMP for asphalting the roads. It was our long pending demand. But we are not happy with the shoddy work being done for the improvement of footpaths on Krishna Temple Road. The contractor has not removed silt from drains of cross roads. What is the use of developing footpaths without removing silt?” asks Thomas Mathew, a resident.

The main grouse of the residents is the absence of uniformity in footpath width. They also said that footpaths are uneven and it would be difficult for senior citizens to walk. “The problem with the footpaths is the uneven surface. It is not pedestrianfriendly,” said a resident.

Coming down heavily on the BBMP engineers for allowing the contractor to get away with shoddy work, Sneha Nandihal, Founder of I Change Indiranagar, has said the tender would have been for the entire road and not in parts. “Will the contractor refund for the spots where he does not undertake the development? There are many business establishments that have, to suit themselves, sloped the footpath making it impossible to walk,” said Sneha Nandihal.

The residents are contemplating filing an RTI application to get the details of the money that have been budgeted and what is actually being spent. “What kind of nonsense is this? To start with, the contractor takes his own sweet time to complete, and then he does shoddy work. Why are these guys not being pulled up?” she asks.

Expressing a similar opinion, a resident has said that Krishna Temple Road has been neglected so badly. “As always, the pedestrians suffer the most,” said the resident.

When informed, BBMP assistant executive engineer Vijayakumar has said that he was busy in attending a marriage function. “I will be able to talk to you only at 10 am on Monday. As of now, I am having lunch and I will try to call you back after some time,” he said.