They are meant to ease traffic choked roads. Yet, years of construction and crores of rupees later, it takes a short span of moderate showers to drown the city’s underpasses. And if the situation during pre-monsoon rainfall this time is any indication, motorists will have to be prepared for waterlogged underpasses during monsoon too.
Of the many underpasses that get waterlogged during rain, the ones at Okalipuram, Seshadripuram, Cantonment Station, K.R. Circle, Outer Ring Road near Ramamurthy Nagar junction, near Golf Course, and Doddanekundi junction have the most traffic density.
N.S. Mukunda, founder president of Citizen Action Forum (CAF), says the discharge outlets of underpasses are smaller and to add to it, drains are not cleared or cleaned from time to time. “The Bruhat Bengaluru Mahanagara Palike (BBMP) should have cleaned all the drainages by now. Monsoon preparedness should be started in April, not in June,” he said.
“The reality of these underpasses hits harder during monsoon, and by the time the BBMP wakes up from its deep slumber, monsoon is over and the problem is carried over to next year,” says Yashwanth, a student who uses the underpass on ORR near Ramamurthy Nagar.
Meghasri R., who travels through the Okalipuram junction underpass, says it gets inundated and the new project being taken up has made the place messier.
The recently opened underpass at Kodigehalli also has the same story. “This underpass was meant to ease traffic towards Jalahalli and Vidyaranyapura. However, it seems that they have built the underpasses without proper drain facility,” said Ambara S., a commuter.
Sadiq Pasha, an autorickshaw driver who usually operates near Krantivira Sangolli Rayanna railway station’s Okalipuram gate, said: “Once rain starts, the footfall towards this gate drastically reduces owing to the mess they have created. This will hit our business as well. Officials say it takes at least two years to complete multiple projects they have taken up.”
We are trying hard to mitigate the inconvenience caused by the project to citizens. Once the project is complete, there will be no problems at all, a contractor on the site said.
The scene at the railway underpass near Majestic is different. Commuters wait for the trains to pass to escape the filth that trickles from train toilets and tracks. “This leads to traffic jam near underpasses and during monsoon, the problem is severe,” said a BMTC driver.
Sanjiv V. Dyamannanavar, an urban transport activist, said the poor quality of underpasses is owing to the compromises agencies make while planning and constructing them. “Density of traffic, rain condition, size and length of approach roads are not considered. This is why they are in a pathetic condition,” he said.
However, BBMP Commissioner N. Manjunath Prasad said most underpasses are designed keeping in mind traffic flow and rain, and only a few of them get waterlogged. “There are some underpasses, like the newly opened one near Kodigehalli, where the drain work is still going on. The underpass near Le Meridian has some problem, which we will solve shortly,” he added.
( This is the fourth part of a series on monsoon preparedness )
