BANGALORE: Even after numerous complaints from the residents and an equal number of promises made by the Bruhat Bangalore Mahanagara Palike officials, the condition of the road in front of ISRO Colony remains the same.The residents and commuters here have now become accustomed to the absence of a rain water drain and the continuous presence of potholes.“The condition here (the road outside ISRO Colony) is pathetic. Recently the BBMP workers came and did some work on the road. However, the condition has gone back to square one. Another problem that we face here is that of flooding.Almost two months ago, the entire road was flooded.On June 25, the water level outside our colony was easily two feet high. As a result, we were stranded within the colony for roughly four to five hours, and had to wait for the water to drain out,” said Renald Phillips, a resident of the colony.In a report published by City Express on July 27, ‘Solution in 30 days’, former zonal chief engineer, S Somashekhar had acknowledged the absence of the missing rain water drain near the colony. He had assured that the problem will be fixed within a month’s time. As far as the condition of the road was concerned, the engineer had the potholes filled with jelly as a temporary measure until the drain work was over.Meanwhile, as the self-declared deadline approaches, the road bears no evidence of any development work that the former engineer had given assurance of, let alone the elaborate plans of asphalting the entire stretch. The cherry on the cake, is that neither his subordinates nor his successor was aware of the assurance given by him.The condition of the road bears testimony to the inability of the Palike to keep true to their own word. After visiting the area on Saturday, Narsimraju, BBMP zonal executive engineer said that at the moment as a temporary measure all they can do is desilt the drains to avoid flooding.When asked how long would the temporary measure last, he was quick to add that the puja before the construction has already taken place and the work will begin by the next week. “The construction of a new drain will be included in the budget,” he said.Blocked drains are the sole reason for water logging and flooding. While the Palike claims that miscreants dump construction debris at night, which results in blocking the drains, the residents feel otherwise.According to them the efforts put in by the Palike seem to be getting washed down the drain. “Despite the desilting work taken up by the BBMP, the drains are always clogged. This is because the silt that is cleared is dumped outside the drain. The entire thing gets washed back as it rains.Narsimaraju also said that the reason they cannot clear the silt immediately is due to the difficulty faced while transporting the wet silt. But if it isn't removed, it gets washed back, and clogs the drain. Unfortunately it seems that the Palike does not mind resorting to the a repetitive, neverending and cumbersome process such as this.The area surrounding ISRO Colony has a drain, but it abruptly stops a few feet from the main gate to the colony. The official was also unable to answer for the omission of the drain only in that area.“I do not know why the drain is built only up to a certain point. Once the work begins, the construction will be completed by the end of the next month,” he added.The approximate budget for the drain work that is scheduled to be completed by September end is estimated to cost Rs 10 to 15 lakh.According to the engineer, this does not include the cost for asphalting the road.“Once the monsoons are over we will start asphalting the road. The process should begin in 15 days,” he said.
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