Nagarbhavi: From a tiny village to a key suburb

From a tiny village to a key suburb
The Times of India

Bangalore: When the National Law School of India spread its wings there in the mid-1990s, Nagarbhavi was a tiny village on the western outskirts of Bangalore, rarely heard of and not on any city map.

The area occasionally featured in crime reports as an area where the bodies of murdered people were often recovered. Those days, travelling on the semi-tarred roads, up and down the undulating hills around Nagarbhavi, to get to the Institute of Social and Economic Change — an older, more low key institution — provided views of vast expanses of greenery and the small surrounding hills.

With Nagarbhavi growing into a key residential area, the view from the top of the hills nestling Nagarbhavi is less scenic these days. With buildings dotting the hillline, the views are blurred. Narrow, semi-tarred, pothole-ridden roads have, however, given way to broad well-tarred ones — a pleasure to cruise on — at least till you get to Nagarbhavi. However, there are some exceptions.

The once-dense woods around Nagarbhavi — especially on the road leading to Kengeri — also feature less often in crime reports. There are frequent BMTC buses plying to Nagarbhavi. But if it is shopping that needs to be accomplished there is nothing that the area itself does not offer these days. The tiny speck of a village is a key city suburb now. A BDA-created layout where people started living since 2001 has been a centre for growth.

Like any other suburb, Nagarbhavi too is plagued by the problem of infrastructure not keeping pace with population growth. In June, over 500 residents protested the lack of civic amenities. Most homes are drawing electricity from makeshift poles connected haphazardly to the few poles put up by Bescom; there are no transformers or underground cables for power, residents complained.

There were also complaints that the area once demarcated as part of the green belt had seen a series of land encroachments.Responding quickly, the BDA stated that suburbs like Nagarbhavi would soon have better facilities under a new plan to be cleared by the state.Underground drainage, road asphalting, proper power and water supply have been promised under the BDA master plan. Nagarbhavi’s residents have threatened to launch an agitation if their civic amenity needs are not met soon.