An electric pole in the middle of the road behind Mukunda Theatre in Satyanagar in Banaswadi is posing danger to people commuting on that stretch. The pole is on the road that begins after the Indian Oil flyover and leads to the Byappanahalli railway station.
The pole that was on the sidewalk for several years is now on the middle of the road after it was widened by the Bruhat Bangalore Mahanagara Palike (BBMP), but the land on which the pole stands belongs to the Railways, according to Arpuda Rajan, secretary of a local residents’ association. “The electric pole belongs to the Railways as the land belongs to them. The BBMP widened the road extending it into the sidewalk and the adjoining Railway land,” he explained.
However, as the road was widened well beyond the sidewalk, the 20-foot electric pole is now in the middle of the road causing inconvenience to locals and vehicle-users on the stretch.
Mr. Arpuda Rajan says that he has been running from pillar to post for the past one year to get the electric pole shifted but in vain.
He says there have been several accidents at the spot because two-wheeler riders speed down the flyover only to ram the pole. “It has to be moved a mere four feet to ensure that accidents do not occur there,” he said.
Mr. Rajan claims he has written to several officials, including the Divisional Railway Manager and even the Parliamentary Committee about the problems. In fact he has met several of them personally trying to convince them the need to shift the pole. But all his efforts have gone in vain.
Official take
When contacted, Divisional Railway Manager Anil Kumar Agarwal alleged that the BBMP had encroached upon Railway land, and it would set a bad precedent if the Railways shifted the electric pole.
BBMP officials, on the other hand, said they would have to seek the Railways’ permission to move the electric pole as it stands on their land.
