Last month, on Christmas morning, residents of Purva Sunshine apartment woke up to an absurd sight of a car tipped into the front storm water drain. Couple of years ago, children came out to board their school bus only to find a two-wheeler rider, a hit-and-run victim, breathing his last. Our security and maintenance staff have been mute witness to the accidents that happen on a weekly basis at least.

Fast forward to the present, in less than a week, there have been three separate fatal/critical hit and run accidents in front of Purva Sunshine apartments on Sarjapura main road, near Kaikondrahalli Sarjapura junction. Two of the victims have expired due to grievous nature of their injuries. There is no information available about the 3rd victim who survived.

A worker at Shahi Garments expired after an accident on Sarjapur Main Road.

One of the deceased identified so far only as a worker at Shahi Garments on Sarjapura main road, expired with gruesome fatal injuries. The incident happened in broad daylight in the 2nd/3rd week of December. Apparently a combination of wrong side driving and the victim walking on the main road (due to lack of footpath) caused this unfortunate accident.

The unnamed, unidentified victim who died in an accident on Sarjapur Main Road.

The other fatal accident happened post 11pm on December 21st. It was a hit-and-run of a pedestrian by a company cab. The victim was rushed to Columbia Asia Hospital by the security staff of Purva Sunshine apartments. Traffic inspector Rajashekar of the Sarjapura road police station later informed that the patient was moved to NIMHANS where he expired and his remains were kept at St. Johns for a week. The last rites were overseen by Mr Rajashekhar on 6th January, as his identity remained a mystery for the lack of any identification, except tattoos on his right hand.

While there have been a spate of deaths and accidents on ORR, Sarjapura road has been in a much worse condition. Most stretches of the road from Carmelaram to Ibblur have high population density, scores of apartment complexes, international schools, hundreds of commercial properties and an upcoming tech park, but have no footpath, no proper lights, no drainage and also bottle necks that result in frequent mishaps by speeding vehicles. There have been more pedestrian accidents over the years that residents of Purva Sunshine can count. The road is a major connector to Sarjapura town, Hosur and Electronic City, but infrastructure is far behind where it should be to support the commercial growth that is taking place in the recent years.

The fatal zone near Kaikondrahalli lake, on Sarjapur Main Road.

Walking and crossing the road is a nightmare at any time of the day. We need basic safety for pedestrians. When will BBMP wake up? How many people have to die before any action will be taken?

We need to look at immediate measures to make accident prone stretches such as these less dangerous for pedestrians.

1. Barricade medians/stretches of road except designated pedestrian crossing.
2. Clear up garbage and debris from existing footpaths and make them safe and walkable.
3. At designated pedestrian crossings along the road, appoint a warden/policeman.
4. Remove bushes and hoardings affecting visibility on the median near all pedestrian crossings.
5. Curtail and heavily penalize wrong side driving.

Residents are reaching out to BBMP and Traffic Police – we need them to respond in urgent and timely manner.