Civic problems take sheen off City’s old charm

Civic problems take sheen off City’s old charm

Deccan Herald

“From Hanumanthnagar to Basavanagudi.” This was what Basavanagudi MLA K Chandrashekar promised to give the people of Basavanagudi if he wins the prestigious Assembly seat.

Even after six months of becoming the legislator, the state of civic amenities in Basavanagudi continue to remain as they were, let alone upgrading them to Hanumanthnagar’s standard.

Whether it is roads, footpaths or streetlights, nothing seems to have improved in the constituency in the last six months.

In fact, the condition of roads in most areas, especially Srinagar and Kempe Gowda Nagar, has turned from bad to worse owing to lack of maintainance.
Coming under the Bangalore South Parliamentary constituency, Basavanagudi has the highest percentage of educated voters. The constituency consists of five wards of Bangalore Mahanagara Palike - V V Puram, Hanumanthnagar, Basavanagudi, Kempe Gowda Nagar and Srinagar and all of them enjoy decent civic amenities.
Like any other area in the City, even Basavanagudi is no exception as far as the traffic problems are concerned. Almost all major roads in the area including Bull Temple Road, Gandhi Bazar Road, D V G Road and Vanivilas Road are getting increasingly congested.

Due to the ongoing flyover project near National College, traffic on the busy Vanivilas Road and Kengal Hanumanthaiah Road has been thrown out of gear.
Nevertheless, no new initiative has been taken to address the issue in the last six months.

Residents here voted for better amenities -- in fact amenities on par with the Hanumanthnagar ward, which is considered the model ward in Bangalore city. With no visible changes in six months, residents seem to have lost all hope.
“We thought that Mr Chandrashekar would provide similar facilities to us as Hanumantnagar if he got elected. But there seems to be no hope now,” residents of Girinagar feel.

They also complained that many of the ongoing projects like rejuvenation of Kempambudi tank, construction of National College flyover, construction of Narihalli bridge connecting Sommanna area to Srinagar among many others have been delayed.


CHANDRASHEKAR’S CLAIM

*I am right on the track and will fulfil my promise to develop the entire constituency on the lines of Hanumanthnagar ward.
*All drains will be desilted and remodelled. This would check water clogging and flooding.
*A major project to asphalt all roads in the constituency will be launched shortly.
*Work on providing water supply and sanitary lines to the residents, especially in parts of Kempegowdanagar and Srinagar, has been completed.
*Old light poles, which will be replaced with new ones.
*I have ensured 100 per cent co-ordination of all utility providers to minimise inconvenience to citizens.

VOTERS’ VOICE

Srirangachar, freedom fighter:
Development has taken a backseat in Basavanagudi. While the footpath laying project remains incomplete, almost all roads are damaged.

P Srinivas Murthy, Trustee, Canara Bank Apartment Assn: We expected a lot from Mr Chandrashekar, who had made Hanumanthnagar a model ward of the City.
R Sampath Kumar, a retired employee: Things are going from bad to worse. Perhaps, it was only in Basavanagudi where citizens enjoyed good facilities.

Venkataramanaiah, Mysore Civic and Social Progress Assn, Secretary: Nothing has happened in the last six months. No major infrastructure projects have been taken up though the constituency is congested.