Unkempt roads, incomplete works, footpath encroachments, menace of flex boards reflect official apathy

Mysore/Mysuru: Is the administrative machinery taking people for a ride, blatantly ignoring the pride of Mysuru, that is synonymous with several sobriquets like ‘Cultural Capital’ and ‘Clean City’ to name a few.

Despite many glaring evidences that mar the pride of the city, the officials have turned a blind eye towards the pathetic sight with unkempt roads, incomplete works and the menace of flex boards. All these raise a moot question — In which way, the Mysuru that has princely imprint is heading? It is not just the officials, even the public have to take the blame for keeping mum without raising their voice against the civic apathy.

To cite several such instances, the underground pipeline works on a stretch of Ramanuja Road, a huge crater in front of Gopala Gowda Shanthaveri Memorial Hospital in Nazarbad, footpath encroachments in several parts of the city and flex boards marring the visual look of the city and deluge created on footpaths due to rains in the last 25 days, have been severely inconveniencing the public, but the authorities concerned are yet to wake up from the slumber.

The junction near JSS Hospital at the intersection of Ramanuja Road and MG Road, has turned into a crater. The stretch of road was dug for underground pipeline works, but the contractor who completed the works on a snail’s pace, has allegedly failed to restore the road later. With the junction being busy round the clock, with a large number of people thronging the hospital and ambulances zipping day and night, it has turned into a bane for the road users. Similarly, the crater near the main gate of Gopala Gowda Shanthaveri Memorial Hospital  poses several risks. Apart from the vehicle users, the bus commuters waiting for the buses nearby, may become susceptible to mishap if they appear nonchalant. Imagine the plight of road users including the patients, health staff, women and children alike, when the crater is filled with rain water, with heavy downpour becoming common of late.

A visit to Mysuru-Nanjangud Road that forms NH-766 provides a glimpse of shoddy road works, with partly a stretch of the road asphalted, leaving another stretch of the road unattended.  The unsuspecting riders are sure to skid, if they ride over the pebbles on the surface of the road, but whom to blame in case of any fatal mishaps, with the four-wheelers too facing the risk.

The rampant footpath encroachments on Mahadeshwara Road (Mysuru-T. Narasipur Road), Sangolli Rayanna Circle on Lalitha Mahal Road and the road that connects to District Armed Reserve (DAR) Police Quarters in Jyothinagar through Air Force Selection Board Road, is another grave issue to think over.

Vendors of fruit, vegetables and toys, set up make-shift stalls in modified autos and occupy a stretch of the road. The buyers, who haphazardly park their vehicles in the middle of the road, severely inconvenience the road users. Fortunately, no major accidents are reported here, but if left unchecked, days won’t be far, when it will turn into ‘Accident Zone’.

In the recent years, it has become a fashion among the public to install flex boards, most of them without seeking permission from Mysuru City Corporation (MCC), on every other occasion, in various parts of the city.

Be it Highway, prominent roads, junctions and circles, the flex boards will be put all over on the occasion of birthdays to greet political leaders and friends and also during the death, to pay homage to near and dear ones.

Even though it is a commonly debated issue in MCC Council meetings, Abhaya, the emergency rescue wing of MCC, swings into action only at the heat of the moment, it is alleged.

With this being the pathetic state of Mysuru, will the MCC and other Urban Local Bodies (ULB) wake up before the situation goes out of hand. Hope sense prevails among the top echelons of the city.