Bejai New Road Residents against Pathetic Condition of Road
Residents of Bejai New Road Residents-7th Cross held a protest against the pathetic condition of the road
Mangaluru: Nearly 100 residents of Bejai New Road- 7th Cross held a protest against the dilapidated condition of the road, and urged Mangaluru City Corporation to take quick action in restoring the pathetic road. This Bejai New Road-7th Cross lies in the border of Mangaluru South and North Assembly constituencies and also connects to NH 66 near Karnataka Polytechnic. There are 150 households in the area.
Speaking to Team Mangalorean, Premanand Salian, a resident of the area, and also the Vice President of Association of Consulting Civil Engineers (ACCE (I)- Mangaluru Centre said, ” Even though Rs 32 lakh was sanctioned by the MCC under the SFC funds, for the road works on this Bejai New Road Seventh Cross, falling in the limits of 31 Bejai ward, nothing much has been done. A tender was also availed by a contractor for the same, and a separate fund of Rs 10 lakh was sanctioned for work on the storm water drains. Unfortunately, it’s sad to note that the work has not been undertaken as of now”
Also speaking among the protesters, Kathyayani Seetharam, a area resident and Vice President of BJP South City South Committee said, ” Due to the pathetic conditions of this road it has been a nightmare for motorists taking this road, and also this road has been causing lots of inconveniences for the pedestrians- and especially during monsoon it’s much more worse. The road gets submerged and the storm water had entered many houses in the lower areas during heavy rains, due to no proper drains. Auto rickshaw drivers very much refuse to take passengers to this area due to the dilapidated road. Also affected are School children and senior citizens who find it hard to commute through on this road. It’s about time that the area ward corporator should take quick action in repairing the road before it worsens further”
It was also learnt that just a patch-work was done three years ago, which didn’t last long. In the meantime, an email sent to Team Mangalorean from Nigel Albuquerque, a lead member of MCC Civic Group under the caption “False Road Concretisation ‘Horata’ in Bejai”, stated “Residents gathered in Bejai New Road 7th Cross to protest against the pathetic condition of their road demanding concretisation. However, they appear to have been misled into protesting, not knowing the facts behind why their road cannot be concretised.”
“In 2015 a case was filed in Office of the Lokayukta Bangalore regarding sub standard road asphalting work by local members of MCC Civic Group. The said asphalt work done was washed out by rains in barely 1 month. Therefore the said matter was escalated to MCC and subsequently to the Lokayukta for redressal. At present, there is a status quo ordered by the Lokayukta. MCC Civic Group lead and RTI activist Ajoy D’silva had spoken to Team Mangalorean, where he had commented that Case No COMPT/UPLOK/MYS/8602/2015 was filed in 2015 regarding sub standard asphalting work which is pending in Office of the Lokayukta Bangalore who in turn had issued a status quo. He added asking, why people never gathered similarly at the time when the said sub standard asphalt work was on?.”
