The still incomplete and poorly designed road over the drain near Gali Anjaneya Temple appears to have negated the benefits of widening of Mysore Road between Bapujinagar and Sirsi Circle flyover.
Work on both — the road-over-drain as well as widening — was delayed for over five years causing immense hardship to commuters. When people thought their misery was about to end with the widening, the road over-drain has dashed their hopes.
Not just that, at least 20 to 30 minutes are wasted negotiating the 500 metre stretch between Mysore Road Satellite Bus Station and Kimco Junction during peak hours. The problem worsens on Fridays and Saturdays when thousands of Bangaloreans rush to Mysore and beyond to spend the weekend.
An ardent supporter of public transport, I took a Bangalore Metropolitan Transport Corporation (BMTC) G6 service, whose frequency has reduced considerably, from Bangalore University Gate on Mysore Road to Town Hall, a distance of about 9.5 km, on a Friday morning. I expected the journey to complete within half-an hour.
I boarded the bus at around 8.45 am and soon it was crawling near Rajarajeshwari Arch, thanks to potholes and craters. The road here routinely gets damaged when it rains. After about 10 minutes, the bus slowed down as it reached Nayandahalli bus stop.
The width of the carriageway towards the city has reduced due to erection of a pillar by Bangalore Metro Rail Corporation Ltd., (BMRCL). Several maxi-cabs, which make unauthorised trips between Nayandahalli and Banashankari, are parked here, thereby reducing the width further.
After several passengers board the bus at Nayandahalli, it travels ahead under the outer ring road flyover ramp. The Bangalore Development Authority (BDA), which is constructing the Nayandahalli flyover is yet to complete the ramp for Mysore Road. Yet, the half completed ramp is a relief as otherwise commuters had to wait an extra 15 minutes to cross Nayandahalli junction.
The G6 moved unobstructed for about a km and on reaching Kimco Junction (after BHEL), it slowed down again due to ongoing repair work. The road, which sometime back resembled a cesspool because of Namma Metro work, has now been made somewhat motorable. The bus had to take a left on Chord Road and then a right towards the road-over-drain. In no time, it came to a grinding halt as hundreds of buses were caught in the morning peak-hour grid lock.
The road-over-drain should have landed in front of the Satellite Terminal where the road is wide enough and one more descending ramp should have gone inside the Satellite Station as per the original plan. Bruhat Bangalore Mahanagara Palike (BBMP) authorities in their own wisdom abruptly ended the ramp near Gali Anjaneya Temple where the road is too narrow. While BBMP shelved the KSRTC down ramp, another down ramp for vehicles from Vijayanagar towards Mysore Road is yet to open.
At least 25 minutes were wasted at this junction before the G6 moved towards Hosaguddadahalli where State transport buses of Karnataka and Tamil Nadu bound towards Tamil Nadu join Mysore Road from the Timber Yard Layout Road. Another 10 minutes at this junction after which it was comparatively smooth. When I reached Town Hall, it was way past 9.45 am and I along with many office goers got down cribbing.
