Source of trouble remains untouched

Source of trouble remains untouched
Only Some Action Taken, But CMC Claims 80 Per Cent Civic Work Done

The Times of India

Bangalore: Byatarayanapura has contributed a rather unenviable piece of history to Bangalore. In the floods of October 2005, this was the first place where people had to use synthetic boats to ferry themselves across the obstinate waters that had metamorphosed into a sudden river.

Six months later, the progress card at this place is, surprisingly, ‘some action taken’. Which by consensus of the citizenry stands at satisfactory. For instance, because of the rains that exposed the appaling living conditions of the place, many inundated layouts got a road to boast of. And this was the first time the place was seeing asphalt!

Balaji Layout, Bhadrappa Layout, Kodigehalli Lake... just some areas that occupied headline space in the media soon after last year’s deluge. A pertinent question that residents here are asking is — will the monsoon of 2006 see a repeat of last year’s woes? CMC commissioner C S Dashwanth declares that they are ready with a report card: 80 per cent work done. “This is a very middle class and lower middle class locality. There are not too many industries to boast of. Encroachments are rampant but when I compare this with other CMCs, I realise Byatarayanapura is not that acute. Because of so much work that we have accomplished I feel that rains will not create as much havoc as last year,’’ he explains. This is one of the few places where demolitions have been met with near success. Fiftytwo structures standing solid atop drains and rajakaaluves have faced the axe. Heaps of rubble lying near drains testify to the demolitions.

This is one area where across 9 to 10 layouts, the houses are at a much lower level from the road. This means that a pedestrian on the road walks some 3 feet above the flooring of the houses. Why won’t water gush in, why won’t there be floods? The situation is such that many causalties of last year’s deluge have still not returned to their homes. So an entire layout of empty houses announcing “to-let’’ still remain. The Kodigehalli Lake, which is really the starting point for floods, has been left untouched. So how can 80% of the work have been accomplished?

Money matters: The estimate presented by the CMC towards rain damage was Rs 200 crore — the actual money that has seen the light of day is Rs 2 crore. The money that the CMC rakes in as property tax stands at Rs 5 crore. And the outlay of the CMC’s recently presented budget stands at Rs 35 crore.


Places which never had a road prior to March 2006


Description of work and remarks
• Restoration of road from 1st and 2nd crossroads of Marutinagar —- Work under progress
• Roads in Kodigehalli village — Completed
• Restoration of road from LKR Nagar to Yarrappa Garden via Railway level crossing — Completed
• Road laying from Tatanagar nagara — Work under progress
• Restoration of 15, 31, 18 and 30th cross roads of HBR Layout — Completed
• Restoration of Swamy Vivekananda Layout, Balaji Layout — Completed circle to rajakaaluve in Balaji Layout —

Work under progress

• Restoration of 9th main road, Maruti-