On Monday evening, as peak hour traffic slowed down to a crawl near Ulsoor lake, the road started to shake. Just as traffic was halted a deep sinkhole appeared on the road.
While this may have taken commuters by surprise, the Bruhat Bangalore Mahanagara Palike (BBMP) had been informed about problems on the road nearly six months ago, but did not act on it. Ajay Sapra, former Indian Air Force officer and a resident of Ulsoor, said that on April 22, he had officially complained to BBMP engineers with a picture of the spot. “While on my daily walk, I had seen that the culverts had fallen off and the main supporting beam was damaged. I even followed up the complaint with phone calls. The engineer had said he will look into it, but nothing was done,” he said.
BBMP officials, however, feigned ignorance of the complaint and said the cave in was ‘unforeseen’. “We did not know that the slabs had been damaged. It appears that the slabs over the culvert on the road are very old and many look like they will collapse. We have started remedial measures,” said Kempegowda, Executive Engineer, BBMP (Major Works).
Drain filled
Ironically, at a time when the civic body is demolishing encroachments on Storm Water Drains, the culvert besides Ulsoor lake will be filled up.
On Tuesday, civic officials gathered there in an attempt to secure the busy thoroughfare.
With replacing the old slabs being a ‘long-term’ plan, it was decided to fill the culvert with gravel and sand for now.
“The Storm Water Drain engineers conducted a preliminary survey of the culvert and declared it defunct,” said a BBMP official.
However, Ulsoor councillor Mamatha Saravana said the road is still dangerous. “Only loose sand has been filled. There is one more point on the road near the gurudwara that is equally dangerous but has not been touched. What is needed is to redo the culverts and relay the roads,” she said.
