Bengaluru: For residents around Jalahalli Cross in north-western part of the city, stepping out of their homes has become a daily challenge fraught with risks.Footpaths are either broken, missing, or gutted and slabs ripped open to expose drains beneath, forcing pedestrians onto the road amid speeding vehicles. Whatever little space remains is swallowed by illegally parked vehicles and buses halting at random. At the junction, the chaos peaks: one of the city’s busiest crossings offers not even a few seconds for pedestrians to walk across safely. With no dedicated signal time, people are left to dart across in fragments, risking their lives at every turn.The 300-metre stretch from Jalahalli Cross towards Jalahalli (Subroto Mukherjee Road) and the 100-metre stretch towards Peenya are the worst-affected portions. Nagarajan R, a senior citizen, lamented the apathy on the part of civic authorities. “I continuously take photographs of broken footpaths, encroachments, and illegally parked vehicles and send them to the authorities concerned. The traffic police and GBA (earlier BBMP) have not responded effectively,” he said.Another resident, Vasanth Vete, urged BMTC and KSRTC to assign traffic controllers to Jalahalli Cross. “Buses rarely stop at the designated stops. They all stop at the junction and worsen the traffic. Some buses speed on, without stopping on the service road, to cross the signal,” he said, pointing at the unused bus shelters that have turned into garbage blackspots. “Jalahalli Cross is the gateway to the city. It should give a good impression to those entering Bengaluru,” Vete added.Regular BMTC buses ply in all four directions from the junction. Jalahalli Cross is also the terminating stop for many BMTC routes with buses also parked here for brief periods. KSRTC and many private bus operators also pick and drop passengers here.Yogitha KS walks to Jalahalli Metro station to board train to office. “Anyone can fall because the slabs of the footpath are removed. We are scared to take children along with us,” she said.Deepa Shivakumar, another resident, demanded clarity on the proposed road widening. “Land was acquired on either side and the groundbreaking ceremony was also done about three years ago. There has been no progress on this ever since,” she said.When contacted, Bengaluru north city corporation commissioner Pommala Sunil Kumar said the newly formed corporation is trying to attend to as many complaints as possible. “We are taking up intensive cleaning drives twice every week in various locations, especially on footpaths. We will coordinate with National Highways Authority of India and address the issues,” Kumar said, referring to Jalahalli cross junction, which includes a national highway.
