Though contractors executing civil works for Namma Metro are supposed to ensure minimum inconvenience and maximum safety to the general public, they have breached this norm in almost all cases.
Besides facing severe inconvenience, people using roads along the Namma Metro alignment across the city have been facing risky situations. The only exception is the underground station worksites which are close to the power centre — Vidhana Soudha.
The toppling of a crane near Harishchandra Ghat on Maha Kavi Kuvempu (MKK) Road on Tuesday proved again that public safety is at risk. The death of an employee of Simplex Infrastructure on Sunday when his hand got stuck in a concrete pump showed that even the lives of workers too are not safe.
The portion of MKK Road from where the crane toppled into Harishchandra Ghat is so treacherous that motorists and pedestrians dread to negotiate the stretch. Karthikeya, a two-wheeler rider, said: “Vehicles have to move on the steep and narrow gradient after the Ghat towards Devaiah Park. The carriageway on the other side, that is, towards Navarang Circle too, is extremely narrow at this location. It is very dangerous to negotiate this stretch.”
Sambashivam, a regular road user, said, “Ever since metro viaduct construction started on MKK Road, this stretch has become dicey. First, the danger came from open trenches dug up for erecting foundation piles and now because of shrunken road space. Officials are least bothered about public safety,” he said. He added that pedestrians have no alternative but to move on the narrow road, risking their lives.
A little ahead, that is after the Malleswaram (Devaiah Park) Metro Station, the viaduct alignment turns to the right towards Swastik along the Railway line. At this point too, the road becomes narrow allowing only one bus to proceed at a time towards Malleswaram Circle. “Instead of putting thousands of road users into trouble, the authorities should have acquired more land to provide adequate road space,” said Karunakaran, a resident.
MKK Road falls under Reach 3 of North-South Corridor (Hessarghatta Cross-Puttenahalli Cross) of Namma Metro Phase I. It is not just MKK Road where public safety has been put to risk by the contractors. Parts of Magadi Road, West of Chord Road and Mysore Road on Reach 2 (Magadi-Road-Mysore Road Terminal) on the East-West Corridor; Chord Road near Mahalakshmi Layout entrance; Tumkur Road near Yeshwantpur Railway Station and near Outer Ring Road Junction at Goraguntepalya pose serious threat to motorists.
