Poor maintenance of flyovers poses danger

Y Maheswara Reddy | NT

That sand renders a road slippery is common knowledge, but unfortunately the authorities on whom the responsibility of maintaining roads is bestowed upon are a rare lot. They seem blind as well as deaf to the risk motorists are exposed to when negotiating their vehicles on poorly maintained roads. Needless to say, this risk multiplies exponentially when the road in question runs atop a flyover, observes Y Maheswara Reddy.

Bruhat Bengaluru Mahanagara Palike (BBMP) has been spending crores of rupees to procure, operate and maintain mechanical sweeping machines to keep roads and flyovers free of dust and litter. Though the BBMP has already got over 25 such machines, filth can be seen on both sides of flyovers and even main roads in the city. The BBMP solid waste management department leaves no stone unturned to keep roads known for VIP movement free from dust and garbage. However, most other roads and flyovers crave for the civic body’s attention.

Muck accumulated on flyovers and main roads poses a grave danger to motorists, especially twowheeler riders. There have been occasions when two-wheelers have skidded and gone out of control due to loose dust or sand on the road or flyover. “I have stopped using the Benniganahalli Flyover, which I earlier took on a daily basis. A nauseating heap of garbage dumped at the entrance (ramp) of the flyover as well as accumulated sand is what put me off. When your two-wheeler encounters sand, there is every chance of losing your balance, and getting tossed off a flyover becomes a scary possibility,’’ said Nagarajaswamy N, a resident of Nagavarapalya.

Motorists blame sand-laden lorries and tractors for the accumulation of dust or sand on flyovers. “There is a norm to cover the top of a sand-laden vehicle to avoid spilling of its load on the road, but not many drivers bother about this. I want the traffic police to penalise these drivers for not covering sand or gravel they transport with a tarpaulin cover,’’ said Ravi Shankar P, a twowheeler rider from Kasturinagar.

It is shocking and disturbing to come across accumulated dust on roads and flyovers, especially on Benniganahalli Flyover, Hebbal Flyover, Hennur Main Road, Horamavu Flyover, Mahadevapura Flyover, Agara Flyover and Iblur Flyover to name a few. Motorists want the BBMP authorities to use the mechanical sweeping machines to remove dust from all flyovers and roads of the city. “One can see accumulated dust not only on flyovers but also in underpasses on the Outer Ring Road. It is shocking to see weeds growing in some of the underpasses and on flyovers. It should not be a difficult task for the BBMP to depute pourakarmikas to remove all weeds, but they seem to be blind to these issues,’’ said Naveen Kumar P, a two-wheeler rider from Ramamurthy Nagar.

Demanding that the BBMP keep flyovers and underpasses clean, Prabhkar S, a resident of Benniganahalli, said that the authorities concerned have to take measures to ensure smooth movement of vehicles at the underpass that connects parts of Kasturinagar to Old Madras Road to proceed towards KR Puram and other areas.

“A few months ago, I happened to see a peepal tree growing on the hanging bridge. A BBMP engineer removed it after I complained to him. I am not happy with the BBMP authorities for the poor maintenance of flyovers and underpasses in the city,’’ said Balaji Raghotham, a social activist.

It is not that the Banaswadi Flyover is clean and neat. Many consider it as the most unscientific flyover in the city. Though the flyover’s length is not much, the BBMP solid waste management department officials are not bothered to have sand accumulated on it and weeds growing on its walls cleaned.

It may be recalled that the BBMP chief engineer recently announced a plan to inspect all flyovers in the city to test their durability after the shocking revelation of the poor robustness of the Peenya Flyover. “The problem with the BBMP authorities is that they do not bother about the need to maintain flyovers in the city. They are only after floating tenders to invite bidders to provide consultancy services,’’ said Manjunath S, a resident of Banaswadi.