Work in progress. Forever

By Shreyashi Mukherjee


Palike’s habit of leaving roadwork incomplete is keeping residents of JC Road on the edge

If poor road conditions in Bengaluru were not enough of a problem for citizens, residents now must deal with the habit of BBMP starting work haphazardly and not finishing it, leaving citizens to fend for themselves. The recent issue is on JC Road, where on March 12, the authorities sent two boys to collect slabs from the road for cleaning the drainage. They assured the residents that the slabs would be placed back within four days. However, a month has passed yet no cleaning work has been done by the authorities.

The residents living in the area as well as the shopkeepers and sellers situated on the road are having a tough time dealing with the consequences. “There are three separate shuttered entrances of my shop and in front of two of them, the slabs are missing. Because of that, I can use only one gate to park my cars or take them out,” said Tahir Ur Rehman, owner of Lubes and automotive zone.



Another resident of the area, on account of anonymity said that quite a few senior citizens and kids stay in this area. Hence, the road has become risky. “If parents are not careful or if the senior citizen do not keep a watch while they are walking, major accidents might take place.”

The residents are extremely irked by the lackadaisical behaviour of the authorities. “If they do not want to complete the work, why do they even start it in the first place?” They do not care at all about the residents. They completely ignore the fact that because of such actions, residents have to deal with so many problems.”

Many of the residents have tried to reach out to the authorities and raise tickets about the issues. But like how most stories go, there was no response from the authorities. Every time the citizens tried to meet the officials responsible, they were sent back with the assurance that the matter would be looked into soon.