BENGALURU: They will never forget the drive back home as it turned into a near-death experience in the blink of an eye: As rain pounded their car windshield, the couple headed to their apartment with the speedometer barely touching 20 kmph when a massive illegal hoarding — over 10 tonnes of metal — came crashing from above and crushed the front end of their SUV.
“In a split second, it was chaos all over. My heart was pounding and we looked at each other in disbelief. At the same time, we were relieved to have survived,” said 41-year-old Salil Kumar, a private company employee and resident of Prestige Tranquilty Apartment on Budigere Road in eastern part of the city.
Salil was returning home in his Mahindra XUV 700 (registration number — KA01 ND 6096) from KR Pura along with wife Archana, an IT sector employee, when the illegal hoarding slammed onto their SUV around 7.30pm Thursday near Bommanahalli on the alternative route to Kempegowda International Airport (KIA).
The couple’s narrow escape is more than a miracle — it is a pointer to the dangers lurking on Bengaluru roads. “The husband-wife duo got lucky and they escaped unhurt,” said police officers who were part of the rescue and road-clearance operations.
Recounting the incident, Salil said: “We were hardly 15 to 20 metres away from the apartment entrance and I focused on the road as it was raining. The hoarding, spread from one side of the road to another for over 50 feet, was not supported by a pillar in the middle, but only at both the ends. We were shocked and traumatised, and when we tried to come out of the vehicle, the front doors had got jammed. However, a few people and fellow motorists helped us get out of the SUV from the back door.”
The hoarding was reportedly erected a few years ago without obtaining permission or seeking design clearances. Soon after the incident, a resident sent a complaint to the CM, DCM, BBMP commissioner, police and others concerned, seeking immediate removal of illegal hoardings.
As for Salil’s SUV, the company’s service-centre representatives described the damage as a major one. In fact, Hoskote traffic police too struggled to clear the road. With traffic coming to a halt, cops had to summon heavy-duty cranes to remove the metal while diverting vehicles to alternative routes. The road was cleared for traffic only around 9pm.
Based on Kumar’s complaint, cops registered a case against the person owning the hoarding. They are trying to ascertain how such a massive hoarding was allowed to be installed on the road, which belongs to Karnataka Road Development Corporation Limited (KRDCL).
We haven’t given permission: KRDCL
According to KRDCL officials, hoardings erected on the road are illegal, including the one that collapsed Thursday night. “We have not given permission to anyone,” assistant executive engineer Kavitha BN said.
“There are many illegal hoardings on NH-04, connecting the 21.5km Budigere Road to KIA. Persons concerned claim they have taken permission from the panchayat, who don’t have any powers to issue the same. These hoardings are dangerous for motorists.”
