Bengaluru: With only a few weeks left for the July-end deadline set for the Hennur-Bagalur Road concretisation project, residents and commuters are increasingly questioning whether the target can be achieved, with officials admitting that only around 60% of the work has been completed.
The 5.5km corridor between Hennur Cross and Bagalur Cross, taken up under the Bengaluru Smart Infrastructure Ltd (B-Smile) initiative, was launched last September to improve road quality and ease traffic congestion along one of north Bengaluru’s busiest stretches.
While officials said side drain works are under way and remain a critical component of the project, residents claim visible concretisation activity has virtually stopped, with only drain-related works continuing in several sections.
Many have also raised safety concerns over open drains and heaps of excavated material lying along the roadside. According to residents, these have become hazardous for motorists and pedestrians using the stretch daily.
Although some portions have been completed, several sections remain unfinished, causing bottlenecks and uneven road surfaces. Those living near Brindavan Dwellers alleged that work on one section was stalled midway, with a sharp difference in height, forcing locals to temporarily place stones to allow vehicle access to their properties.
“Work has been going on since September 2025 in a haphazard way. They finish one stretch, disappear, and start somewhere else, leaving dangerous cuts and rubble behind. What should have been a seven-minute stretch took me 45 minutes to pass at least three times recently, forcing me to turn back and miss work. There’s dust, heat, unfinished medians, and dead plants everywhere. With rains here, we’re worried the situation will worsen,” said Anju Verghese, resident, Salarpuria Gold Summit Apartment.
Faisal, another resident, said: “People are worried about heaps of rubble, but from what we understand, this is mostly material scraped from the old asphalt road during milling and used temporarily for levelling access near properties. The bigger concern is not debris in the concrete, but the haphazard execution — uneven road levels, unfinished shoulders, and sharp edges that make commuting difficult and, at times, dangerous. The stretch remains a bottleneck, with many commuters reporting it takes over an hour to cross Kothanur during peak hours.”
Residents also complained that some newly completed stretches were dug up shortly afterwards for utility-related works, leaving uneven gravel patches and disrupting traffic movement. Questions have also been raised about the heaps of rubble visible along parts of the corridor. However, an engineer associated with the project clarified that no debris was being used for the concretisation work.
According to him, the material consists mainly of asphalt milled from the old road surface and is being temporarily used by property owners to bridge the level difference between the new road and their entrances. It will be removed once the side drains are completed, he added.
While acknowledging that permission-related issues in some locations have affected the pace of work, officials expressed confidence the project could still be completed if pending issues are resolved quickly.
Sources said the whitetopping work was halted in certain stretches because of issues between the contractor and the local MLA, though this could not be independently confirmed. For residents, the hopes of smoother travel remain intact, but with substantial work still pending, many doubt the July-end deadline is a realistic one.
