Mysuru: The Kalidasa Road, which is the busiest and the most popular road that  draws the line between Vontikoppal and Jayalakshmipuram, has turned into a poor shape, with potholes dotting the road.

Little walking space on the footpath along both sides of the road has made pedestrians insecure, as they always face the risk of being hit by a passing vehicle. The lack of sign and warning boards and the unscientific road humps has made the problem worse.

The extended portion of Kalidasa Road starts from Sri Yoganarasimhaswamy Temple in Vijayanagar First Stage and ends close to Cheluvamba Park, running up to a distance of about 3 kms. The road is a highly commercial one with hundreds of shops and other business and commercial establishments located on both sides of the road.

Thousands of vehicles travel on this road everyday and the innumerable potholes are a nightmare to motorists and pedestrians alike. The house of Chamundeshwari MLA and former Minister G.T. Devegowda is situated along this road in Vijayanagar First Stage. However, the condition of the road was no better when GTD was a Minister in the previous Coalition Government, as potholes were not filled up and repaired.

Thanks to huge potholes, the road has become dangerous for motorists, especially two-wheeler riders as they come across potholes soon after crossing a road hump. Four-wheeler vehicle drivers too face a tough time in negotiating the potholes and unscientifically erected road humps.

The road is a very important one for businessmen and officials as well as there are many banks and institutions along the road. Kotak Mahindra Bank, ICICI Bank, SBI, Bank of Maharashtra, HDFC and other financial institutions, famous hotels and restaurants and other eateries, branded clothes shops, mobile phone shops are located on this road.

The road humps on this road are deceptive for motorists, especially for first time users, as they do not have Zebra markings. With the authorities turning a blind eye to the poor state of this very important commercial road, the motorists and pedestrians are left cursing. With problems aplenty, the motorists blame the negligence of the authorities for poor maintenance of the road. Although repair and pothole filling up works have been taken up, they are of  sub-standard quality and as a result, the condition of the road returns to worse whenever there is heavy rains.

As MLAs and other top people representatives travel by luxurious  cars, they do not experience the hardships faced by a common man travelling on the road.

It is high time that the local area Corporator take interest and ensure quality repair and asphalting works. The citizens too are losing interest in complaining, as their many pleas earlier seeking repair works were not heard.

Echoing the sentiments of local residents, Ramesh, an auto driver, said that the deep potholes on this once beautiful road worries him. The vehicles passing on this road face the threat of breakdown, thanks to potholes and unscientific road humps. 

As such, he does not want to ply his auto on this road as he is worried about the tyres of his vehicle, he said and added that it was high time that the authorities woke up and take immediate measures to fix the problems.