The 350-metre-long BMTC buses-only road, stretching between Dhanvanthri Road on the east and Gubbi Thotadappa Road on the west, is dotted with potholes and rough patches, endangering the safety of hundreds of commuters and BMTC staff.
TOI visited the spot to find that from the eastern side to the west, there were 20-30 potholes of varying sizes. Some rough, uneven patches were 7ft long and 10-15cm deep. The road was in such poor shape it was hard to count the exact number of craters.
As people were being dropped at the turn at Dhanvanthri Road, there was a crowd at the very beginning of the stretch. The growing presence of commuters deboarding vehicles coming from parallel lanes renders the junction as an accident spot in waiting. The situation tends to be scarier during peak hours (9am to 11am and 6pm to 8pm) when twice the number of buses and people use the road.
Interestingly, the stretch next to the bus stand on the other side of the divider is neat and without any such craters. Shivaji, a BMTC staffer looking after two-wheeler parking on the ‘good’ side of the road, told TOI the BMTC side of the road is the transport utility’s responsibility as it comes under the purview of neither BBMP nor BDA. The other side is said to be maintained by KSRTC. “BMTC tarred the road almost a year ago but the quality has deteriorated over three months,” he said.
Mahesh Kumar, a BMTC ticket collector, said the biggest problem posed by the road’s condition is maintaining vehicle balance after a turn is taken. “The bus moves like a wave but one that hurts you with every drop and bounce,” he said.
Devaraju, another BMTC driver, said the stones jutting out from underneath the tar touch the bottom of the bus sometimes. “When there is a traffic jam and there are many buses trying to enter the bus stand, we happen to get close to each other and the condition of the road is such that there is a risk of buses crashing into one another. This is because the craters make the bus jump. With so many people and other buses at the turn, manoeuvring through them is a stressful daily exercise for us,” he said.
Funds, repair date soon
BMTC chairman Nandish Reddy said he is aware of the issue and plans to fix it soon. “A board meeting in the first week of December will help us discuss the matter with other officials. Then we’ll decide how to allocate resources for this purpose. We will asphalt the road as per the usual standards,” he told TOI.
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