Death trap in city, but BBMP in fool’s paradise

BENGALURU: Lakshmi and her four and six-year-old children run across the railway track that crosses Thindlu-Kodigehalli Main Road, every morning, on their way to school. It is a dangerous crossing with 136 trains speeding through it everyday and claiming nearly 40 lives over the last two years. Lakshmi hopes that the long-awaited railway under bridge or RUB, for which the mainroad has been dug up, is completed. Its construction has been stalled and the road left unusable for three years now.
On October 30, another person lost his life when hit by an oncoming train and that was the fourth death this month. This track is a nightmare for commuters and residents, especially for children who go to school on the other side of Kodigehalli.

The RUB is joint venture between South Western Railway and Bruhat Bengaluru Mahanagara Pallike, and the work has been stalled because there is trouble with the land aquisition. Residents refuse to part with their land for the prices BBMP has offered – `4,200 per sq foot – and want double that, at `8,400 per sq ft. They claim that the corporation is paying higher for other projects. The RUB requires 2,800 sq m of land for which 49 properties have been identified for acquisition. So far only five properties have been handed over to BBMP. One owner who is holding out says, “The compensation offered is less than what they have offered for other projects”.

Despite the large wall of opposition, BBMP officials sound optimistic. Executive engineer Mukunda agrees that there are problems with land acquisition but they “hope to resolve it soon with the owners”. Railway officials say that their contractors are willing to finish the projects but the land disputes need to be settled.

Meanwhile commuters and residents who live around this project are left to suffer. People who live in Thindlu, Dhanalakshmi Layout,  Veerupakshipura, Anand Bhadavane and  Vidyaranyapura have to travel an additional four km every day, via the Ayyappa Temple Road or Dodda Bommasandra Road, to get to the other side of the track. Residents Welfare Association of Virupakshapura has filed a PIL and issued a legal notice to South Western Railways and BBMP, and it has not received any response from either. K N Jagadish Kumar, petitioner and resident of Kodigeahalli, says “We live in fear of chikungunya and dengue”. The dug up underbridge is a breeding ground for mosquitoes.

Life disrupted, business affected

“Our life has been disrupted,” says Srinath,who has been residing in Kodigehalli for the past 20 years. “We were happy when we heard that there was going to be an underpass, but now it looks like it is will never happen”. Chandan had been running a successful grocery store for the last ten years, but now the road that connects him to the Thindlu side has been dug up for this project. He says , “Earlier people used to throng my shop, now I am thinking of shutting it down”. Even officers at Kodigehalli Police Station say that they need to take longer detours to cover their daily beats. “ We can’t reach our station fast,” says one constable who did not want to be named. The police have taken to parking their beat vehicles on the other side of the track, which is nearly 300 m away.