Bengaluru: Ignoring the usual Sunday rest, residents of Balagere donned work gloves instead, cleaning a portion of the road between Kadubeesanahalli and Varthur, a stretch that had become a hazard for drivers and pedestrians.
They took matters into their own hands after the BBMP gave up on the work, citing lack of funds.
Alarmed by the sight of frequent two-wheeler skids, they folded their sleeves to clear the layer of silt that stretched nearly three kilometres on both sides of the road, almost covering a full lane in each direction. Many of the residents work in IT companies.
When the civic body gave up, residents raised a plea on social media, taking the matter up to the Chief Minister’s Office (CMO). Following the complaint, BBMP sent a mechanised sweeping machine that cleared the silt for 500 metres.
When the residents publicised the day of their symbolic protest, which also involved cleaning the road, the municipal body deployed its workers to clean the road for three days.
Clement Jayakumar, a member of the Mahadevapura Task Force constituted by MLA Manjula Limbavalli, said the Balagere Road did not fall under the BBMP’s annual maintenance contract.
"Even the sweeping machines are deployed only on the Outer Ring Road,” he said, urging the civic body to bring all arterial roads either under the annual maintenance contract or deploy sweeper machines.
Balagere resident Swetha said the busy stretch was never cleaned in the last seven years. “About Rs 600 crore gets collected as property tax from the Mahadevapura assembly constituency, but the BBMP does not respond to our complaints, even if we beg them. Balagere Road needs a dedicated team to desilt the road on a daily basis,” she said.
She felt citizens’ complaints would have received a better response had there been an elected body. The BBMP did not bother to send a tractor to haul away the silt the residents had cleared so painstakingly on Sunday, she added.