Traders furious as Cottonpet road caves in, slam BBMP indifference

BENGALURU: Tension prevailed on Cottonpet Main Road near Majestic for some time on Saturday after a portion of the road caved in. No injuries were reported and the nearly 10-foot-deep 'mini sinkhole' was cordoned off with barricades.

Bruhat Bengaluru Mahanagara Palike (BBMP) officials suspect the road caved in because of excessive vehicle movement. However, Cottonpet traders are extremely unhappy and blame BBMP for poor management. "If the road suddenly collapses like this in other markets, it would scare everyone. This affects our business badly. Why does the BBMP not heed our pleas?" said trade activist Sajjan Raj Mehta.

BBMP offici als said the road was initially covered with a slab and was asphalted and due to excess movement of vehicles, it collapsed. "One covering slab collapsed and the secondary storm water drain broke, causing dirty water to flow," chief engineer officer KT Nagaraj said.

"We plan to put two 600mm diameter SWD pipes and then backfill it, which is a temporary solution. They have to construct a reinforced cement concrete drain for a permanent solution," said Nagaraj.

Another major reason is the inadequate diameter of the drain and excess sewage flows there, added Nagaraj. "We were waiting for the ACP to grant us permissiom to repair these roads," said Nagraj adding, "The repair works will start within a week and will take six months to be completed. The traffic also needs to be monitored."

The road is about 80 years old. "The main road has a SWD pipe below which leads all the way up to KC Valley. When water starts to flow in large quantities, the road starts to sink slowly. On Friday, when a heavy vehicle moved over it, the road suddenly collapsed," said mayor Gangambike. We have alerted BWSSB and our officials to fix this as soon as possible, she added.

The Majestic TendurSure project has five major roads and 11 cross roads, includig the Cottonpet road, and about Rs 120 crore has been sanctioned for the project.