Bengaluru: In south Bengaluru’s Judicial Layout — a neighbourhood that houses judges, IAS officers, and top govt officials — residents are waging a daily battle just to find motorable roads. The situation is so dire children and youngsters have begun writing poems on the pathetic state of roads and mailing them to the Prime Minister’s Office (PMO). Their plea is simple: “just give us better roads”.Located near Thalaghattapura (off Kanakapura Road), Judicial Layout falls under Bengaluru South city corporation limits of Greater Bengaluru Authority (GBA). But the reality here is anything but “judicial” as craters, dust, and endless digging have turned every commute into a nightmare. Roads are dug up, covered with mud, and left to wash away in the rain, creating gaping potholes that residents describe as “death traps”.Helpless and exhausted, a group of children has penned a six-stanza poem describing their roads. Not so nice hereEveryday conversations in the area capture the frustration. A nine-year-old girl, after travelling on NICE Road, innocently asked her father: “Papa, why can’t we name our road as NICE Road so that it will also be nice?” Her father, Dhananjay Padmanabachar, said he had no answer.Residents have had enough of temporary fixes. Guru Prasad, of Provident Park Square in Judicial Layout, told TOI: “I’ve been living in this layout for close to two years now, and all I have seen is someone coming and digging up the roads continuously… not once have I seen them asphalting it. There are schools nearby where students find it difficult to travel to every single day. As some of the top govt officials stay here, we thought at least this part of the city would have good infrastructure. But it is worse here.”Vidya, another resident, said, “When there is construction, I can understand there may be temporary digging and patch-up work, but here in Thalaghattapura, the roads are forever dug up with big dangerous potholes throughout. We can’t take children on two-wheelers without being too slow. I need 10 minutes to cross 800m of Judicial Layout, sometimes more due to congestion caused by some civic work.”A senior citizen who wished to remain anonymous said she feels afraid every time she travels on the road. “The entrance to Judicial Layout is full of potholes; there is hardly any road left. If it rains, the potholes fill up with water and you can’t see them at all. For two-wheelers, it’s dangerous, and for senior citizens, it is even worse. At night, they are scared to cross this stretch because it’s difficult to judge where the pothole is; even an auto or scooter can topple.“Officials cite fund crunchHowever, civic engineers from Bengaluru South corporation complained of fund shortage to carry out works. “Judicial Layout roads are in very bad condition as some or the other pipeline work is ongoing. We are short of funds. We will get some clarity and immediately fix the potholes and tar the layout.”
