University Road: By the poolside

BANGALORE: The locality in and around Bangalore University (Jnanabharati Campus) is known for many reasons. Be it the mega acred campus or the road widening project that was planned for the area. One of the reasons it might not want to be in the news for is, a battered road.Popularly called the University Road, the street is laden with potholes. These potholes run several inches deep into the ground and have left little or no road at all. In several areas, the entire centre stretch of the road has been rendered unavailable for use. Buses and vehicles use either the extreme left of the road or the extreme right. The craters due to routine usage have now sunk in deeper than what they were a few months ago.A motorist on the road, Dini, asserted that the enormity of the situation was ignored by the concerned authorities. She said, “The road is prone to severe accidents. The faster the authorities realise this and do something about the situation, the lesser number of people will get hurt.” Her words seem to echo the thoughts of the other commuters as well. Another passerby added that the absence of street lights puts the users in serious hassles especially at night.Rain worsens the matter multi-fold. The water-filled potholes become a force to reckon with. Splashing puts the pedestrians in a dilemma. A pedestrian on the road, Srinivas, remarked that it was very hard to walk on the road without being drenched with water. He said, “It is like a mini pool, the difference being that it is filled with muddy water and is not chlorinated. Do not wear anything white while traversing on this road.”While commuters say that the state of the road has been the same for the past few years and their complaints have gone unheard, the Bruhat Bangalore Mahanagara Palike (BBMP) officials say that a temporary solution to the problem has been found. The potholes have been covered up with crushed stones and are not as perilous anymore. The road comes under the division of ‘major roads’ in the BBMP despite which the worsening condition of the road seems to have been ignored. The local corporator of the area, Govindraju, informed City Express that the work would be completed soon. He said, “We have already submitted a proposal and it has been accepted. We will soon begin work on repairing the road.”