Life in RMV Extension is no more posh

Life in RMV Extension is no more posh
The Times of India

Bangalore: On Wednesday, a rickety autorickshaw carrying more than six people zoomed past the Dr Rajagopal Road, RMV Extension, dodging the hawkers and the four-wheelers parked on either side of the road. A 10-year-old child almost came under the wheels of a car.

For Mallappa, watchman of a supermarket on the road, the chaos is nothing new. “I see at least two accidents on the road every day. These auto drivers have no licences and the vehicles have not passed fitness certificates. But
they manage to ferry people in the colony. The police men here just ignore them,’’ he said.

Almost all residents considered the issue so serious that it was raised by the residents of 18 welfare associations in a monthly meeting of ward committee last Saturday.

“We are only waiting for a major incident to happen. The police has to buck up. Apart from keeping these autorickshaws off the road, they should liaise with the Bangalore Mahanagara Palike to evict the unauthorised hawkers and enforce parking zones,’’ said the Ward Committee chairman Ramesh Chandra Dutt. The committee even decided to write a letter to the Commissioner of Police on the issue.

The other issue that haunts the residents is the indiscriminate dumping of municipal waste, which is dutifully collected from the residences by the contractors employed by the civic authority. “There are some vacant sites near the ISRO administration office. There is dispute upon ownership of the land AES layout and ISRO layout and the case in pending at the Court. With no one to question, the contractors use it as land fills,’’ said Kala Sundar, a resident. “If there is anything positive I want to talk about the civic amenities in the area, it’s the park. We have three developed parks that we can be proud of,’’ she added.

But what shocks most people in the posh area, where VIPs including ministers, national awardees and senior politicians live, is that the number of stray dogs that chase people. “Often, pedestrians are the victims,’’ said Com. Manjunath, who resides in the area.

And like many other residents in Bangalore, those in RMV extension also complain of potholed roads. “It is a misery to live here when it rains. The roads are either slushy or waterlogged, the storm water drains are clogged with municipal waste,’’ said N Leelavathy, correspondent, Vidyamandir, who resides in Dollor’s Colony, RMV extension (stage 2).
The huge bungalows, high boundary walls and the escalating land prices in the area have increased the demand for this developing area, and like every other area, the civic problems in this area also remain unattended.

Its share of woes
RMV Extension has some VIPs residing in the area which include senior politicians, bureaucrats, scientists and some national award winners. But beyond the huge boundary wall of each bungalows are a plethora of civic problems. Like anyone else in Bangalore, the men in these bungalows wonder how they should solve them:

• Badly laid roads and chaotic traffic.

• Stray dog menace.

• Uneven footpaths.

• Storm water drains chocked with garbage.

• Empty sites used as landfills.