Commuters fret.

The ongoing construction of flyovers and underpass on the Outer Ring Road (ORR) by BDA has left the motorists and commuters fretting and fuming.

Reason: The main road and service road in and around the infrastructure project are in pathetic condition and have become unmotorable.
It may be recalled here that BDA is constructing four flyovers and an underpass on the ORR for seamless traffic and signal-free junction at a total cost of ` 194.95 crore. The mega infrastructure project, which started in 2010, is almost one year behind schedule. The original deadline was extended to Dec. 22, 2011.
A drive through ORR will surely send a chill down your spine. Motorists face hardship due to unmotorable road, dust and traffic snarls, thereby becoming a health hazard for them and commuters.
U Ankappa, a motorist, lamented that driving along ORR has become a nightmare for the motorists. "The condition of roads under BDA limit on ORR is pathetic. In the name of development, commuters and motorists are feeling the brunt. It is a shame that the IT Corridor is in such a pitiable status," he said.
He also said that BDA had completely neglected the civic amenities on ORR and not asphalted the service roads and the main road near the flyovers and underpass. "The entire ORR stretch is in an utter mess," Ankappa added.
V Sathya, a regular commuter, said that it is a sheer negligence by the civic body for not providing a motorable road. "They have turned a blind eye to this problem and life has become hell for the commuters. The travelling time has increased by leaps and bounds. There will be bumper-to-bumper traffic at any given time due to pathetic roads," he pointed out.
"Bad roads test the patience and driving skills of motorists. Dust pollution, in particular, is high on this stretch. BDA should have asphalted the road beneath the flyovers. It is high time to speed up the work and complete at the earliest," Sathya added.
Speaking to Cityplus, BDA executive engineer B Nagendra said that one side of the service road is asphalted at Devarabeesanahalli, Bellandur and HSR Layout, which will ease the traffic movement to a greater extent.
"We cannot asphalt the road beneath the flyovers and service roads until the structure portion of the flyovers is completed. Once that is completed shortly, the road and service roads will be asphalted. The motorists and commuters will soon have respite from bad roads," the engineer said.

At a glance
•    Mahadevapura Flyover (Completed & operational)    ` 37.31 crore
•    Kaadubeesanahalli Underpass (One underpass completed & operational) - ` 40.38 crore
•    Devarabeesanahalli Flyover (One ramp nearing completion) - ` 40.82 crore
•    Bellandur Flyover (One ramp nearing completion)    ` 41.72 crore
•    HSR Layout Flyover (Nearing completion) - ` 34.72 crore

--RAGHAVENDRA R