In the latest spurt of citizen activism in Bengaluru, angry residents living in and around Hennur gathered in protest on Sunday morning against the marathon delay in constructing a 920 metre flyover on the Outer Ring Road.
In what was a largely peaceful protest, residents came out in the sun with placards.
One of the placards mocked, “Taj Mahal-20 years, Vidhana Soudha-4 years, Hennur Flyover-8 years and counting.” while others read, “Finish what you start”.
The project which was flagged off in 2009, is still far from completion. Moreover, the partial construction has resulted in more pain for the residents of the area with residents forced to negotiate narrow service roads which also are in deplorable condition.
Ironically, the area falls within the constituency of Bengaluru Development Minister KJ George.
In a press statement. Hennur Road residents said, “Despite many requests to evince a commitment or visit and address the protesters, none of the authorities namely BDA turned up.The organisers and the residents alike, who turned up said they will continue the protests on this flyover issue until a clear and early commitment is provided by the authorities.”
Why this delay?
One of the factors causing delay in the completion of the flyover has been problems with land acquisition, particularly after the new Land Acquisition Act came into effect in 2013.
However, reports say that the shifting of underground pipes by the Bengaluru Water Supply and Sewerage Board has also delayed the work on the flyover.
Residents had told The Times of India in May that the entire situation had been made worse by a lack of coordination among the different civic agencies.
"In November, BDA started building service roads, but completed them only on one side. BWSSB had to shift the sewage lines on the other side of the road. In January, BWSSB workers dug up a part of the work but haven't returned to complete the work.
BWSSB said that there were issues with gas pipelines running underground. However, this has left us with leaking sewage pipelines for nearly five months now," a resident had told TOI.