Rajarajeshwari Nagar safe haven for dirt

Rajarajeshwari Nagar safe haven for dirt
The Times of India

Rajarajeswari Nagar: A paradise of dirt? For people in Bangalore, infrastructure problems are not new. One might just feel that leading a peaceful life away from the hustle and bustle of the city could help. But think again. Life in Bangalore’s suburbs ain’t different.

Residents of Rajarajeshwari Nagar would know. The calm and peaceful surroundings in the area could bring some respite to its residents, but the magnitude of problems faced by them in day-to-day life are so severe that life is terrible for them.

The major problems they face include bad roads, dirty vacant litigation sites, lack of good bus facilities and unhygienic surroundings unattended by the municipality.

The road leading to the Rajarajeshwari Nagar CMC office is itself strewn with garbage thrown by residents. Says M Basvaraj, a resident, “The Municipality takes no pain in keeping the surroundings clean.’’
A van religiously picks garbage from the bins every day but nobody sweeps the roads regularly.

A resident complains, “There are not enough buses for people to commute from Rajarajeshwari Nagar to destinations across the city.’’

CMC commissioner Narayana D L says, “Problems regarding non-availability of buses will be solved in a month’s time when the CMC proposes to introduce the ‘Buy, Operate and Transfer Scheme’, under which tenders will be invited from the public and the revenue for setting up new bus shelters and maintaining them will be collected through advertisements’’.

Regarding roads, he says, “A proposed Rs 2 crore budget has also been allotted for the betterment of road conditions. As of now 30 per cent of the roads in this area comprises metal roads, 5-10 per cent are mud roads. The current year’s action plan includes converting mud roads into metallic roads. Also 25 per cent of the roads will be asphalted this year.’’

FACT FILE
Total number of BMP bus shelters in Rajarajeshwari Nagar: 38, for a population of approximately 1,05,699. Most of the revenue for Rajarajeshwari Nagar CMC, constituting 31 wards, was collected from stamp paper duty and betterment fee.
Most of the roads are dirty and unattended by municipality workers.
Tar roads cover 260 km, metal roads cover 100 km and mud roads 120 km of the total 66 sq km area of Rajarajeshwari Nagar.