Long wait for infrastructure

Long wait for infrastructure
Deccan Herald

‘Reality continues to ruin my life’- one of the punchlines of the Calvin & Hobbes comic strip gains a whole new meaning when one looks into the progress made by City Municipal Council (CMC) in providing infrastructure to low-lying areas like Puttenahalli and J P Nagar VI phase.

‘Reality continues to ruin my life’- one of the punchlines of the Calvin & Hobbes comic strip gains a whole new meaning when one looks into the progress made by City Municipal Council (CMC) in providing infrastructure to low-lying areas like Puttenahalli and J P Nagar VI phase.

Irate residents, baffled contractors, CMC engineers making tall claims of completing work in the next two weeks, floating fantastic figures that will result in basic facilities in place... the localities have it all. Except, any visible sign of improvement.

According to CMC Engineer Mr Padmanabhan, Rs 93.31 lakh had been earmarked by the CMC to undertake “flood-relief” work following rains in October, in these areas. But when the Deccan Herald reporter went along with CMC officials for first-hand information on January 31, it was hard to believe that Rs 50 lakh had already been channelised for creating culvert, clearing storm water drains and construction of UGDs.

The only portion that was nearing completion was a Rs 6.5 lakh work that was being undertaken at the Tank Bund Area.

Here, metalling of the roads along with increasing the height of the tank bund was being done with great flourish.

However, the fanfare ended there. The bridge work in the same stretch, designed to prevent over-flow of water during monsoons in the tank bed, was yet to take off.

Further, the cross-roads that were yet to get the Rs 36 lakh facelift in terms of culvert and separation of drains, wore a defeated look. According to the contractor-in-charge Vishwanathan, the lack of basic infrastructure and the topography of low-lying areas made it difficult to conduct work.

“The slopes and the level of the road which is higher when compared to the house level is making our tasks very tough,” he explained.

Non-starter?

The Rs 15 lakh ‘Flood-relief’ work at Chunchghatta, which is further off Puttenahalli, seems to be a non-starter too.

“We hope to begin work in the next two weeks,” said Padmanabhan.

Meanwhile, CMC Commissioner Uday Shankar is a disgruntled man, “Residents expect miracles overnight. The developments can be carried out only in a phased manner,” he explains.

On the delay in implementing the projects, Mr Uday Shankar maintained that 40 per cent of the work was nearing completion in these areas.

Well-laid plans

Works worth Rs 93.31 lakh will be taken up

Claim: Works worth Rs 50 lakh in progress to be completed by February 28.

Reality: Works worth Rs 6.5 lakh completed, remaining projects start off on a shaky note.