artist Badal Nanjundaswamy

Herohalli

pothole-ridden roads

Artist Badal Nanjundaswamy used the pothole-ridden road as his canvas and turned it into a moon surface

Bengaluru

Actor Poornachandra Mysore who was part of the initiative highlighting poor condition of the road.

Bangalore

By Y Maheswara ReddyCondition of this road is shocking, sayswho makes actor walk on moon-like surface inThis one was better than an UFO sighting for the residents of Tunganagar, Vishwaneedam and other areas at Herohalli ward in Yeshwanthpur Assembly constituency. Citizens who were resigned to thein their neighbourhood, and their elected representatives’ apathetic attitude, had a special guest visiting them on Saturday night.Life all but came to a halt when the citizens of this area found an astronaut walking on Tunganagar Main Road that had turned into a moon surface. Thanks to Badal Nanjundaswamy, an artist known for highlighting infrastructure-related problems in the city with his art.“I happened to see many pothole-ridden roads in the city but the condition of this road is quite shocking,” said Nanjundaswamy.He decided to use the pothole-punctured road as his canvas and turned it into a moon surface and for good measure, had actor Poornachandra Mysore dress up like an astronaut and walk over it. This was another Nanjundaswamy public installation; he has created more than 25 installations so far, all based on civic issues, and to highlight the bad conditions of roads in the city.“The residents were very cooperative. Some of them even regulated the movement of vehicles on the road so that we could convert a pothole into a moon surface. Some volunteered to supply water to us to mix the colours,” said Nanjundaswamy.Speaking to BM, Poornachandra Mysore said that he was happy to be a part of this initiative, highlighting the potholes on Tunganagar Main Road, since he had witnessed an accident recently when he was driving to Herohalli from JP Nagar. “The young woman suffered serious injuries when she met with an accident due to a pothole,” said Mysore.“The condition of the road is really bad and it needs to be fixed immediately,” says Mysore.Residents say that it’s tough to navigate this road with potholes that are as large as craters, broken manholes and overflowing sewage. This has been the state of the road for the last two years. The residents blame corporator Rajanna for not addressing their grievances despite complaining to him for nearly two years. They said that they have not seen the corporator inspecting the roads in this ward. They have also blamed the BruhatMahanagara Palike (BBMP) for not replacing the fused street lights, which are turning the roads into accidents zones at night.When contacted, Rajanna said that asphalting the road would be done after theWater Supply and Sewerage Board (BWSSB) completes laying of water pipes and underground drainage pipes.“I deny their allegations. I visit my ward regularly,’’ says Rajanna. If all goes well, Yeswanthpur is expected to go to the polls, with 16 other constituencies by next month. The residents expect the authorities to asphalt the road before the by-election. The by-election has been necessitated since the MLA from Yeshwanthapur was disqualified along with 16 MLAs of Congress and JD(S).