Motorists vent ire as newly opened expressway gets flooded after rain, leads to accidents

RAMANAGARA: Just days after the controversy over high toll on the Bengaluru-Mysuru expressway, motorists were left fuming on Saturday after the overnight rain flooded a section of the road near Sanghabasavanadoddi village near Ramanagara, with vehicles breaking down and leading to accidents.

Only about a week ago, on March 12, the expressway was inaugurated by Prime Minister Narendra Modi. Earlier too, there were complaints of flooding on the expressway and the National Highways Authority of India (NHAI) had taken up rectification work.

The flooding affected movement of traffic on the expressway.

After the rain on Friday night, the expressway was flooded again, causing inconvenience to motorists and affecting traffic flow. Some vehicles were also stranded after the water flooded the engine compartment. A truck hit a stranded car from behind, causing serious damage, but the occupants of the car luckily escaped. The car owner Vikas said he called the NHAI helpline, but no one came to his rescue.

Vikas’ stalled car was hit by a truck on the expressway.

“The water was above the chassis level and my car stalled due to water flooding the engine compartment and a truck coming from behind rear-ended my vehicle. We were four people in the car and luckily, none of us had any major injuries. There is no space for the water to drain out. The CM should come and see the state of affairs here. Will the CM pay for the damage? I will park the vehicle in front of his house”, an angry Vikas said.

“Let Pratap Simha and C T Ravi come and swim here for all the credit they are claiming. Who will be held responsible if there are accidents? They should have opened the road after fixing all the issues. They inaugurated it in a hurry just for the elections. It was only moderate rain on Friday night and you can imagine what will happen if it rains heavily. They should fix all the issues and only then start collecting toll”, said a villager.

Villagers vented their ire over the high toll and the substandard construction of the expressway.

Another villager said many vehicles had sustained damage during the rains last year too. “They have undertaken unscientific work on the expressway because there is no way for the water to drain out and tThere have been some accidents since Friday night. There is also anger over collecting high toll for such a road and the authorities should ensure that people can travel safely”, he said.

“The officials arrived on the scene only around 10 am on Saturday and took up some work. A road which connects 10 villages is in a bad shape and schoolchildren are finding it difficult. The officials come up with only ad-hoc solutions and don’t work on permanently resolving issues”, said Sudarshan, another local.