Lightning visits of VVIPs irk residents of rain-ravaged areas

Lightning visits of VVIPs irk residents of rain-ravaged areas
Deccan Herald

“We had expected leaders such as Deve Gowda to hear us, visit our colonies and houses. All of them came only to places which are accessible for their vehicles” according to a resident.

They came, they saw and they left! This is how the residents of Puttenahalli in J P Nagar sum up the visits of political heavy weights and VVIPs who came to assess the damage of the rain-ravaged streets in the last three days.

And most of them did not even bother to see the reality, said a visibly-bitter Chinamma, a resident of Sharadanagar in Puttenahalli whose house has been inundated with three feet of water following the deluge.

“We had expected leaders such as Deve Gowda and other MLAs to hear us, visit our colonies and houses. However, all of them came only to places which are accessible for their vehicles. Areas and streets which are not easily accessible were completely left out,” she lamented.

Expecting their arrival, a list of woes had also been prepared about the lack of basic infrastructure like a proper storm water drain and slabs to cover gaping man-holes.

“The lane that leads to our area is now filled with rain water mixed with sewage and faeces. We residents even gathered near the Bakery to save them the trouble of wading through knee-deep water. But we were told that they had gone back without visiting our locality,” said Chinamma.

Chinamma is not the only one who was disappointed by the lightning visit of the leaders. Mr Govindraj, president of JP Nagar Residents’ Welfare Association (Puttenahalli) terms the entire spectacle of corporators and politicians visiting damaged areas as a mere ‘eye-wash’.

Only numbers matter

“These leaders and corporators are more bothered about the number of areas that they cover in a day rather than inspecting one particular area in detail. No good can come out of such visits,” he said.

‘All gimmicks’

Rama Kannan, a resident of RBI Colony, said, “On October 22, the residents of this area had staged a protest against bad roads. But none of the politicians bothered to visit the area and listen to us. All of a sudden, after so much damage, they are visiting in large numbers. Politicians are into gimmicks”.

She also pointed out that despite promptly paying the property tax and road development tax, the residents are getting nothing in return from the government.