City’s poor cousin still languishing

City’s poor cousin still languishing
The Times of India

Bangalore: It’s hardly 15 km from Bangalore. But Mahadevapura is not an area on which Bangalore’s mantle of IT city can rest in the near future.

Dusty roads, overflowing garbage dumps, haphazard growth. Mahadevapura is a pale shadow of the city it has evolved out of.
Modernity for Mahadevapura is restricted to its corners — the new flyover and outer Ring Road at one end and the International Technology Park at the other. While Mahadevapura, a city municipal council, can stake claim to be a town by itself — given its 1.3 lakh population — the truth is the CMC has neglected the region.

Once a green area dotted by the odd industrial unit, Mahadevapura has developed into a key commercial area following the arrival of ITPL and several big industries.

With the commercialisation came residential areas. Living in a major part of these areas has been made difficult due to the lack of basic facilities. Almost every summer when diseases like gastroenteritis breaks out, Mahadevapura will find a mention in the list of affected areas — a reflection of its poor sanitary conditions. Two years ago, the Mahadevapura CMC was hauled up by the Lok Ayukta for misappropriation of funds to the tune of Rs 8 crore meant for infrastructure development. It is a small wonder the area is beset with basic infrastructure problems.

Incidentally, the area officially received its first drop of tap water supply only on Wednesday. In recent times, representatives of some industrial units in the region are up in arms to protest plans to impose a higher tax on them to develop the region.

“No water, no electricity. Roads are a mess. No one can move around in the night as there are no streetlights. When KIADB allotted this land, we expected a better deal,’’ says a factory owner from the area. Many industrial units have of late locked up and left the area.

Residents groups like the Marathally (Extension) Residents’ Welfare Association have complained about the lack of garbage clearance measures in the area. “We built a house in Mahadevapura five years ago. The infrastructure was bad then. We thought it will improve with time, nothing has happened. There is still no sanitation, water or roads,’’ says M. Ramesh, a resident.

One reason Mahadevapura is famous, like its neighbour Marathahalli, is due to the factory outlets that exist here for some key garment and apparel manufacturers. Shoppers often flock here on weekends to get cool deals. The construction of the flyover near the Krishnarajpuram railway station and the Ring Road a little further away has no doubt eased traffic problems on the main roads in the region. But the minor roads are a nightmare.