The Bengaluru traffic Police is in a fix after residents reportedly woke up to a dug-up road in the area connecting Hoodi to Ayyappanagar. The road was dug up overnight without any permission, the traffic cops said, and claimed to have sought the city’s civic body Bruhat Bengaluru Mahanagara Palike’s (BBMP) help, but in vain.
Employees and school-going traffic were held up in the area connecting Hoodi to Ayyappanagar road. “Pls avoid hoodi to ayyappanagar road. Someone have dig the road without permission and they have left it like this. We are closing it and it will take some time,” the KR Puram traffic police tweeted.
“How can someone dig like this and leave as it is? It’s created mess in the entire area… any action on the ppl who did this?” a user commented.
The pit stretched across the width of the road and was in the centre, making it difficult for even two-wheelers to pass. Moreover, rain in the city had made the road sludgy and slippery.
“It may be bbmp, bwssb or bescom, we are not sure. We will find it,” traffic cops replied to the query.
READ | Congress shares video of students filling potholes in Karnataka: ‘Lost hope…’
“This is called daylight robbery of public property. How can someone dig a road without permission? @airtelindia, @reliancejio & @ACTFibernet work in this way. But, they dig in nigh-time. Now who is this? #StopDigging @CMofKarnataka @BBMPCOMM,” a Twitter user – Citizens Movement, East Bengaluru – wrote.
Cops were on their own and they did not make a secret of the fact. “Nobody from bbmp responding to our call. Pls send someone to close this pit sir,” they tweeted in a short while.
Social media users were irked and dismayed by the elusiveness of the officials. “Sad to see this plight of our dear Bengaluru. If Traffic Police is not heard, what about us citizens ?” one wrote.
READ | ‘Potholes, bad roads’: Residents’ appeal to PM Modi ahead of his visit to Bengaluru
As vehicular movement in the area came to a near halt, cops decided to get their hands dirty. “Somehow we have managed to close the pit temporary by filling it with mud. It requires some concrete to fix the pit completely and permanently,” they updated in a third tweet.
READ | ‘No one seems to care’: Biocon chief Kiran Mazumdar-Shaw on Bengaluru’s Hosur road
The internet expressed gratitude towards the traffic police department in KR Puram, while criticising the aloofness of the BBMP. “Massive respect to every police officer for going out of their way and doing what BBMP should be doing. This respect can never be lost and will never go to the lazy and corrupt BBMP,” a Twitter user wrote.
“Dear @CMofKarnataka – shame on you guys!! even the @blrcitytraffic has to beg #BBMP for responding to citizen centric issues. Dear @PMOIndia – please make #Bengaluru a union territory!!! so that we get monitored by PMO directly…Our #Karnataka politicians are too honest!!” another wrote.
