A bag of civic woes in a constituency of contradictions

A bag of civic woes in a constituency of contradictions

Deccan Herald

Jayanagar is perhaps one of the badly-hit Assembly constituencies in Bangalore as far as developmental activities are concerned.

Whether it is rejuvenation of the Yediyur lake, construction of a flyover at Jayadeva circle, road asphalting or water supply works, several major infrastructure projects have suffered a delay in the past six months.
Result: Undue inconvenience to residents. For instance, the Yediyur lake rejuvenation project was taken up in 2003, along with two other lakes — Ulsoor and Sankey tank. Today, nearly two years after the project was taken up, there is still no sign of its revival.

In fact, the original contractor withdrew from the project mid-way, dumping silt and weeds on the bank of the lake, turning it into a breeding ground for mosquitoes. Besides, the dumping of silt and other construction materials near the lake has added to the traffic congestion on Yediyur Main Road.

The case is no different with the Jayadeva circle flyover and the underpass on Bannerghatta Road, which was supposed to be completed in June, 2004. The project hit a road block soon after the Assembly elections, when the contractor stopped the work, demanding a hike in the project cost.

Incidentally, the MLA, Ramalinga Reddy, was the minister in charge of Bangalore development in the previous S M Krishna government. He has also been elected as legislator for the fourth time. Besides, Mr Reddy is one of the main contenders among the City MLAs for a ministerial berth.

Though Jayanagar constituency boasts of posh and well-developed residential localities, it also has the highest number of slums. Out of the seven Bangalore Mahanagara Palike (BMP) wards, four wards — Gurappanapalya, Madivala, Lakkasandra and Hombe Gowda Nagar — are underdeveloped and many areas in these wards lack basic amenities like asphalted roads, footpath, streetlight, drinking water and underground drainage.

Slum dwellers of Tilaknagar, the Corporation slum in Gurappanapalya and Madduramma slum in Tavarekere have complained that houses built under the various Centre-sponsored housing schemes were not allotted to them, though they were built several decades ago. “None of the 140 houses built under the Central scheme for the urban poor in Tilaknagar in 1983 have been allotted to the beneficiaries so far.

While officials say that they are yet to finalise the list of beneficiaries, dozens of families have illegally occupied these houses,” is what the slum dwellers say.
Moreover, residents of these slums, including parts of Madivala and Gurappanapalya, face acute drinking water problems. Though the MLA claims that the project to lay water pipes and underground drainage line has been completed in the entire constituency, water is not yet to be supplied to these areas.

Dug up roads and footpath is another common complaint made by the residents of these areas. Neither the Bangalore Water Supply and Sewerage Board nor the Optic Fibre Cable companies, which dug up the roads and footpath, has restored them. According to residents, these agencies had undertaken the task of digging up roads during the rainy season, though the BMP had banned such activities during monsoon to minimise inconvenience to Bangaloreans.

Besides this, residents of many low-lying areas in Hombe Gowda Nagar face the problem of flooded houses during the rainy season. Even an average amount of rainfall inundates several houses, causing damage to property. However, the MLA claims that the residents of his constituency have been provided with the best of amenities. “Even slums are provided with all amenities and there is no major problem in any of the slums,” he added.

RAMALINGA REDDY's REPLY

*There is some delay in completing the Yediyur lake and Jayadeva circle flyover projects. But measures have now been initiated to complete it at the earliest.
*Water supply and underground drainage works are complete in almost all areas. There are some missing bits which will be completed soon.
*Basic amenities have been provided to all slums.
*A tender contract has been finalised for construction of a flyover near South End Circle.
*The list of beneficiaries under various housing schemes will be finalised and the houses will be allotted to them.
*If the Cabinet is expanded and if there is a minister to exclusively look after City development, things would be smoother.


VOTERS’ VOICE

BL Surendra Kumar: Nothing has been done in the past six months. It was during the elections that some of the roads were asphalted. But subsequent rains have washed away the tar on most roads.

Girish: The residents have had to put up with a lot of hardship due to delay in completion of the Yediyur lake project. People living near the lake have been facing mosquito menace for several months.

Y R Anasuya: Though I have lodged several complaints about clearing garbage on the footpath, no action has been taken. Pourakarmikas refuse to clear the waste unless we give them money. The MLA has not looked into the problem at all.

Mangala: Drains are clogged always in Gurappanapalya. A few months ago, the drains were desilted. As the silt was dumped beside them, the drains became clogged again.