Motorists using Suranjan Das Road will have to grin and bear with the bumpy ride for at least six more months, as the widening work is yet to commence.
While the road widening work was inaugurated amid great aplomb in July last year, the Bruhat Bangalore Mahanagara Palike (BBMP) had announced that the entire stretch between Old Madras Road and Old Airport Road would be completed in 10 months. The stretch between Bharat Earth Movers Limited (BEML) Circle and Old Madras Road was to be widened within five months.
However, eight months on, the only work that has been carried out is that of clearing the trees, and the pipe laying work, which is still under way. The latter has caused much inconvenience to the general public, who have to negotiate the dust, uneven roads and dangerous trenches that greet them at regular intervals.
The ambitious widening work has been taken up to convert Suranjan Das Road into a four-lane one for which the 3.85-km stretch will be made 18.5 metres wide. The entire project will cost Rs. 14.74 crore, with the BBMP and Bagmane Developers sharing the cost in the ratio of 75:25. An estimated 141 trees are being axed as a result of the project, which is being aimed at improving metro connectivity.
The pipe laying work is being carried out at crucial intersections, leading to traffic pile-up during peak hours. One of them is BEML junction, which is a four road-intersection. A trench has been dug up right in front of the make-shift bus stop, due to which buses have to swerve in difficult angles to avoid it. The other is the three-point unregulated intersection at Jeevanbima Nagar, where there is always chaos.
“The pollution is unbearable and to ride a two-wheeler on this road is torture, especially in the dark,” said Aishwarya. S, a resident of the road.
M. Krishnappa, councillor of C.V. Raman Nagar, said that the drain works had taken up time. “Only after the drain work is completed, concreting of the road would be taken up. Hopefully, the work should be complete in six months,” he said.
