In the process of redevelopment, authorities have seemingly forgotten to build gratings or side drains that are needed to discharge the rainwater.
DH Photo/S K Dinesh
Bengaluru: A 1.5-km stretch of Old Airport Road between the Suranjandas Road underpass and the UR Rao Satellite Centre is among the many roads in Bengaluru that flood after every heavy rainfall.
The noteworthy difference is that this stretch was built by Karnataka Road Development Corporation Ltd (KRDCL) as a ‘model road’ ahead of extending the similar design to all nine high-density corridor projects.
The KRDCL, entrusted with maintaining Bengaluru’s all major roads for a brief period in 2021-22, re-designed the short stretch of Old Airport Road by improving the footpaths, repairing the medians, greening the edges of the road and ensuring uniform carriageway.
In the process of redevelopment, authorities have seemingly forgotten to build gratings or side drains that are needed to discharge the rainwater.
As a result, water is seen flowing on the water, occupying almost the entire lane when there is heavy rainfall. Unlucky pedestrians are likely to be flushed with water while passing by. On Friday, the condition was not so bad as it did not rain heavily but local residents say the new design was just cosmetic as it did not follow the road construction manual.
In 2022, the BBMP got back the custody of high-density corridors after the KRDCL’s proposal ran into controversy. These critical stretches are being re-designed at a cost of Rs 400 crore. Of the total amount, Rs 273 crore will be spent on asphalting about 43 km of stretch, Rs 89 cr for developing 110 km of footpath and Rs 28 crore for installing new streetlights.
BBMP engineer-in-chief B S Prahlad said the designs, prepared by the KRDCL, had been improvised. “We will be installing either metal and fibre gratings to stop the waterlogging of roads. On top of this, we will also be creating rainwater harvesting facilities on some of these corridors,” he said.