Bengaluru: Electronics City is one of Bengaluru’s most recognisable growth stories. Home to major technology companies, thousands of professionals and a rapidly expanding residential population, the suburb has long been marketed as a symbol of the city’s economic ambitions. But on Neeladri Road, that promise quickly gives way to a different reality.A walk down this residential and commercial heart of Electronics City begins with a warning, not a welcome. No footpath greets you — just a narrow, median-split lane choked with traffic, and many open manholes.For months, three to four manholes along this stretch were overflowing, sending stagnant, foul-smelling sewage across large sections of the road. There was nowhere for pedestrians to go but straight into it, or into oncoming traffic. For the people who live and work here, it stopped just being a daily inconvenience and became a daily fight.While drainage leakage issues have been addressed by the local panchayat in recent days, residents say pedestrian safety continues to be a major concern due to damaged and incomplete footpaths.“Though the panchayat has made efforts to clear the drainage leakage, areas like the 3rd Cross still have stagnant water on the road, along with broken and uneven pavements,” says Ranganath, a local bar owner.“They may have stopped the leakage, but several drains have been left uncovered. With footpaths either removed or in poor condition, pedestrians are forced onto the road, which not only increases the risk of accidents but also adds to traffic congestion,” says Daulat Singh, a mobile shop owner.Five-year-old problemIt isn’t a new problem. “This has been happening continuously for the past four to five years. They come, clear it temporarily, and leave. The very next day, it gets blocked again,” says Suresh Patel, a local shopkeeper.Tired of waiting, three or four shopkeepers from one building pooled their own money, bought loads of soil, and tried to wall off the mess themselves. It didn’t work.Every time the drains back up, the filthy water bursts straight through the soil and floods their entrances all over again — leaving them exactly where they started, only poorer for the attempt. Patel has since installed a motor pump just to keep his shop dry.The fallout is visible in empty storefronts. “We are businessmen; customers won’t come inside in such conditions,” Patel said.Residents have urged the authorities to take comprehensive action to restore safe pedestrian infrastructure along the stretch. Rathnamma, a tender coconut vendor at 3rd Cross, said the earlier leakage had severely affected nearby businesses.“Sewage used to flow onto the road, and the stench forced a restaurant owner to shut his shop for two days, causing significant losses. Though officials later placed barricades and dumped soil to contain the leak, it has now formed a mound, creating another inconvenience,” she said.To make matters worse, a few metres ahead, even the pavement disappears, giving way to broken concrete and then a muddy stretch.Complaints go nowhereFrustration has spread beyond the shop owners. IT employees and professionals working nearby say they’ve sent countless emails to civic officials, only to get automated replies or bounced between departments.Even political attention hasn’t moved the needle. “Last year, during Ganesh Chaturthi, the local MLA visited and promised to fix the drainage, but nothing has been done,” says Hemanth, who runs a medical shop.For now, Neeladri Road remains exactly what it has been for years: a commercial strip in one of Bengaluru’s busiest tech corridors, left to rot in its own runoff — while the people who keep it running foot the bill, literally.The scorecard: 1.5/5SAFETY: BADOpen manholes force pedestrians onto heavy traffic, creating constant safety risksACCESSIBILITY: POORBroken pavements, muddy stretches and stagnant water make the road nearly impossible to navigate for senior citizens, wheelchair users and parents with strollersCONTINUITY: VERY POORThe footpath appears briefly before disappearing into broken concrete and mud, forcing repeated detours onto the roadMAINTENANCE: POORDamaged pavements and open sewerage manholesCOMFORT: BADWaterlogging, traffic congestion and limited parking– By Ananya Bhat
