When a road was built over a nearly 20 ft wide drain in their locality, people of Richards Town hoped it would improve connectivity between Viviani Road and Kandaswamy Mudaliar Road. But in the years since, it has done little to add to their quality of life. Instead, the presence of the road has done just the opposite as far from being used by vehicles, it has become a favourite hangout of gangs of youth doing drugs. The smell of ganja, marijuana and other narcotics hangs in the air over the drain and the road after dark, complain residents who are afraid of sending their children out at this time of night, as a result.
“These youths are scary and if we scold them they only attack vehicles and lonely women. This is all the more unwelcome as we have a school and a college nearby,” complains Mr B. M. Asif, 70, who lives in the area. Besides having to live with the marijuana smoking gangs, the people are also forced to put up with garbage dumped on the road and into the drain, which ends up blocking it and causing water to stagnate in rain. “The stench from the drain is unbearable,” Mr Asif adds. While the BBMP did erect a gate to prevent anti-social elements from entering the road and also a notice- board warning against the dumping of garbage on it, things are no better, according to him. The gangs still frequent the road and the area is as dirty as always, he laments.