The uneven footpath and the tangled mess of OFC cables outside Gate-3 of ITPB makes for a dangerous walk

The roads in Pattandur Agrahara won’t let techies take a step towards fitness. Those who live close to ITPB and prefer to walk to their office are scared. Reason, they do not want to trip on the potholed road or fall inside an open drain. The largest techpark in Bengaluru, the International Tech Park Limited (ITPB), which boasts of employing around 40,000 people, has open drains for footpaths.The narrow footpaths adjoining the boundary wall of Gate 3 of ITPB on Pattandur Agrahara road are patchwork of drains and dangerous for commuters. Whatever stretch is left of the footpath, is occupied by street vendors, advertisement boards and dumped OFC cables.For over two years now, the 50 metres footpath stretch from Gate 3 is broken, while the rest of the footpath is occupied by piles of OFC cables. The OFC cables have been lying at the spot for over a year now. Additionally, at a distance of 600 metres from Gate 3 is another fatal spot – an open and unfenced storm water drain. Other parts of the footpath are then occupied with old dumped vehicles.Another important entrance to the tech park, Gate 1 is a combination of open drains and crater-sized potholes that fill up with slush when it rains. With no road and footpath infrastructure near the entrances of the ITPB, techies go through one hellish ride on their way to work.MP Kumar, a techie who works in ITPB says, “Thousands of employees use this gate (Gate 3) and those who stay within a kilometer of the tech park prefer walking to work. The footpath is also widely used by the residents of area, given the chaotic traffic in the area. The Gate -3 entrance is also used by BMTC buses, water tankers and cabs to ferry employees in and outside the tech park. The roads are more or less fine as the potholes that come up every now and then are filled. However, with no space to walk and footpaths in shambles, pedestrians are constantly at risk. During peak hours, the road is heavily congested; making it all the more difficult for pedestrians to walk. The residents had met the local corporator in 2016 and submitted a petition to clear the footpaths. But the vendors returned within a week of beingremoved from the footpaths every time.”Especially during the evening and at night time when the techies leave from work, the roads are particularly dangerous with peak hour traffic contributing to the mess. “It mostly rains in the evening and the potholes fill with water and it’s difficult to walk on the roads,” he says.