India, March 5 -- A 100-metre stretch at Bhat Bazar in Masjid Bunder, lined with around 10 shops and eight residential buildings, is caught in a crisis of sorts ever since road work began in the are a fortnight ago. Two-wheelers were removed overnight. "When we woke up the next morning, the contractor had shifted our vehicles and they were towed by the RTO," says Ravi Thorve, 50. While residents claim at least half a dozen people have tripped and fallen since the work began, shopkeepers said footfalls have dropped nearly 30% and businesses along the stretch reported mounting losses. PL Tambe, 55, manager of Hotel Apex Regency, which usually houses patients and their families visiting Saifee Hospital, has been directly hit. "More than five customers reached out to us, but when they saw there was no motorable road, they backed out." Adding to their woes, water connections along the affected stretch are frequently severed by the excavators working on the road. "I have already spent more than Rs.6,000 on water tankers," Tambe said....