Cooke Town Residents Protest Delayed Drain Work, Damaged Walls And Traffic Jams
Residents in Cooke Town, Bengaluru, have expressed severe frustration over slow-paced and poorly supervised roadside drain development work that has dragged on for the last two months. The prolonged civil work has caused damage to private properties, left mounds of uncleared debris along roadways, and triggered major traffic snarls during peak hours across neighbourhood streets.
Local residents stated that unskilled workers using earth-moving machinery to dismantle existing drains have damaged compound walls and neglected to clear rubble on a day-to-day basis. Resident Constantine Pereira said an earth-moving machine damaged his compound wall, and the contractor failed to repair it despite complaints over the past two months. Pereira also noted that newly installed concrete slabs over the drain sit higher than ground level, making it difficult to close his front gate.
Albert R, founder-president of the Cooke Town Nivasigala Sangha, said Bengaluru North City Corporation engineers have not bothered to inspect or supervise the quality of the ongoing work. In response to the worsening conditions, more than 600 residents of Wheeler Road and Hutchins Road have signed a petition demanding civic and traffic authorities intervene. Resident Pamela Parashar said traffic jams have become routine during peak hours on Wheeler Road due to the disrupted roadway.
Residents also questioned the logic of narrowing the roadside drains and criticised the quality of materials being deployed. Several locals pointed out that inferior and substandard concrete slabs were being used to cover the channels. They expressed concern that complete concretisation leaves no provision for rainwater to percolate into the ground, threatening the survival of mature trees situated along the avenues.
Addressing the complaints, the contractor's site supervisor, Manoj, stated that the accumulated debris would be cleared without any delay. He also promised to repair the compound walls that were broken while dismantling the roadside drains. Meanwhile, BNCC Assistant Engineer Sandeep claimed that nobody had officially lodged a complaint with him regarding property damage, adding that he would attend to the problem once it was brought to his notice.
