BENGALURU: Last Sunday, a 100-metre stretch of
Hennur Main Road was dug up to enable a 100-wheel truck carrying a 62-foot-tall
Hanuman statue to pass through a railway bridge and its height barriers. Even the barriers, median and nearly half-a-dozen streetlights had to be pulled down. The damage caused in the process is estimated at Rs 1 crore, say civic officials.
The statue has reached Kacharakanahalli, east Bengaluru, where it will be installed. Before digging up the road, members of
Sri Rama Vardhini Chaitanya Trust had given an undertaking to
BBMP saying they would repair the infrastructure damaged in the process within three days. But the repair work is likely to be delayed as many trustees have become incommunicado following a criminal case initiated against them by civic officials.
Acting on a complaint filed by the assistant commissioner (revenue department), KG Halli police have registered criminal cases, including contempt of court, against 18 members of the trust. Padmanabha Reddy, opposition leader in BBMP council and BJP corporator from Kacharakanahalli ward, is among the prime accused. He told TOI they will take legal recourse and make sure the damaged infrastructure is repaired at the earliest. “A Rama temple once stood on the controversial land and accepting the same, the archaeological department had submitted a report to the court. We will convince the court there was a temple on the land in question and we are just re-establishing it,” he said.
Asked about the damage, Reddy said it is the trust’s responsibility to repair the road at the earliest. “We will fix it in a day or two. We are spending over Rs 50 lakh,” he said.
Hennur residents, however, said they are facing hardships due to the damaged infrastructure. “The road beneath the railway bridge has been dug up, making it very difficult to drive there. Also, the entire 100-metre stretch is dark at night as more than five electrical poles with streetlights were removed to facilitate the statue’s transportation,” said Ramakrishna, a resident.
