BBMP to review roads proposed for widening.

For the past five years, Thimmappa S. (name changed), a resident of Bannerghatta Road, has been dreading the day when work on widening the road will begin. If it does, he is set to lose a portion of his apartment.

The 90-metre wide Bannerghatta Road is one of the 216 proposed to be widened. “A few years ago, the BBMP made the marking on the wall of the building years ago. A public meeting was held with residents who would lose their properties. But it seems that the civic body has forgotten about this,” he said.

K.M. Sriramaiah Setty, who will also lose a part of his property on Devasandra Main Road, is hoping that the BBMP would see reason and drop the widening proposal. His argument is that Devasandra Main Road is one of the approach roads to ITPL via Hoody from K.R. Puram and sees traffic only during peak hours in the morning and evening. Now, such people are seeing a sign of hope. On Wednesday, during the BBMP council meeting, Jayamahal councillor M.K. Gunashekar urged Mayor B.N. Manjunath Reddy to review the list of roads proposed to be widened. “Widening of so many roads is not feasible. A decision on this should be taken soon, as people who are set to lose their property are on tenterhooks,' he said.

Mr. Reddy urged the Commissioner to see how many (roads) can be widened given the BBMP’s fiscal health and submit a report to the BBMP council soon.

G. Bharatiya of the Federation of RWAs in North East Bengaluru explained the predicament of citizens by citing the case of Tannery Road, a 4.4 km stretch between Pottery Road and Nagawara, which is to be widened. “Many people invested their life’s savings in property along the road. But since the project is in limbo, they can neither sell the property nor divide it among their children,” he said.

THE HINDU