Bizmen urge BBMP to fix Subedar Chatram Road

BENGALURU: BBMP Commissioner N Manjunath Prasad may have threatened to crack the whip on the officials concerned if potholes are found on roads in their jurisdiction, but shopkeepers on Subedar Chatram Road are complaining that they are facing difficulties because of a shoddy job done in covering trenches after laying optic fibre cables.

Kubera MP, owner of Ravi Xerox, said, “Forget about the November 6 deadline fixed by the CM. We shopkeepers, 60 of us, gave a complaint at the BBMP head office on November 3 but nothing has happened. As the road has become dusty, we have to wear masks and sit in our shops. Footfalls have reduced and sales have dropped. We are having breathing difficulties too.”

Nandakumar, who runs Sri Shankar Provision Store, has been in the area for the past 40 years. “I am old and I find it difficult to breathe in this environment,” he said. The shopkeepers have also asked BBMP to send water tankers to sprinkle water so that the dust settles down. Luckily, Tuesday’s rain provided some respite for them. Shafi, who owns Metro Store, has been in the area for 30 years. “It’s been 25 days since we gave the complaint. It has been stamped and signed by all of us. The BBMP has also stamped its acknowledgement. No BBMP engineer has come till date. We want the road asphalted. Our problems are bigger than any single pothole on this road.”