Pollution, encroachments reign

Pollution, encroachments reign
The Times of India

Kengeri: The stench of Vrishabhavathi valley, which carries Bangalore’s dirt, flows down Kengeri. And when the skies open up, the valley does so too, inundating the area with sewage water.

No roads, no drinking water, just polluted environs! This is Kengeri in a nutshell.

In what can be termed a total failure of administration, the Kengeri TMC has been headless since August. A revenue officer has been made the commissioner-incharge, and the situation is so pathetic that the TMC budget has still not been presented. “A prebudget meeting has been scheduled next week, we do not know when the budget will be presented,’’ say officials.

Heavy downpour last year inundated this satellite town, thanks to the massive encroachments on the valley bed and tank beds. While Rs 1 crore was released by the government to take up flood damage works, the money was badly utilised.

As Sudhir, corporator of ward 1, Kengeri Fort, whose ward was inundated puts it: “Funds were released to those wards which were not even affected by the floods. Hence, no concrete work was taken up in flood-affected areas. It is a total hotch-potch job.’’

Most of the main roads are heavily cratered. The roads were heavily dug up to lay water and sanitary pipes but no restoration work has taken place.

“There has been no improvement in the condition of the roads since years. They are potholed and dusty. There has to be some accountability on the part of civic authorities. It’s really terrible to live in such conditions,’’ complained a resident Bhavana.

Uncleared garbage and unchecked growth of parthenium are another big nuisance for the residents. “Garbage picking vans are a rare sight here and the sweepers are irregular. This has caused a lot of disgust among people,’’ Bhavana added.

During floods last year, Kengeri Town, Bhuvaneshwarinagara, Mariappanapalya, Gandhinagar, Uttarahalli road, Bapuji colony, Hoskere were the worst affected areas here. The TMC has to depend on its own revenue to carry out works. Its property tax collection is abysmal. Last year, about Rs 64 lakh was collected and the TMC officials maintain that a major portion of the tax money is spent on cleaning.

‘You ask me’
When the president of the TMC Mallika K was contacted for information on the flood relief work, her husband chose to speak. “You ask me, I will speak. Why do you need to talk to her? I manage everything,’’ he insisted.

“The Cauvery pipeline work is being carried out in many wards. This has damaged the roads to a large extent. The TMC depends on the property tax for its revenue which is insufficient. Therefore it suffers a huge setback in carrying out development work. Rs 1 crore has been sanctioned for flood relief works,’’ the president’s husband informed.