The much-hyped Bengaluru–Mysuru expressway project has been in the news for all the wrong reasons these days. After the heavy rain that lashed Ramangaram district earlier this week — on August 29 — motorists using the under-construction expressway had a harrowing time. After the underpasses were flooded, vehicles were seen submerged on the flooded road at Sangabasvana Doddi.
The impact was such that cranes had to be deployed to shift the vehicles that broke down in the floodwaters. Traffic snarls forced the district administration to impose diversions and ask motorists not to use the expressway.
Last week too, the district authorities imposed diversions after several stretches of the expressway were inundated. As videos of flooded roads and traffic snarls went viral, the National Highways Authority of India (NHAI) came under severe criticism from various quarters, accusing it of implementing a flawed design, blocking natural drains, and encroaching waste weir of lakes.
