Residential area turns open drain

Residential area turns open drain
Deccan Herald

Is it a drain or a road? A drain in a road or vice-versa? Touted as layouts of Silicon City, many areas in Bangalore resemble open drains.

Is it a drain or a road? A drain in a road or vice-versa? Touted as layouts of Silicon City, many areas in Bangalore resemble open drains.

With flies and mosquitoes being regular visitors in these areas, Chikungunya, the illness that has got public attention, has visited almost all the residents of these areas at least once.

The areas with no basic facilities is connected to Hosur Road that leads to the prestigious IT and BT companies of Bangalore. These areas include Garvaebhavipalya, Hongasandra, Bandepalya, Om Shakti Layout, Gurumurthy Nagar, Vajpayee Layout and the areas surrounding Jnana Bharati school in Bommanahalli municipal limits.

The residents of this area are yet to recover from last year’s monsoon woes. The areas have come into being for over ten years, yet there are no roads here. The few existing pathways are in the dimension of 6 to 10 ft. The sewerage from houses is directly connected to the main pathways for lack of drains. The entire municipal area represents one big open drain.

Residents complain of various health problems, mainly skin disorders after wading through sewage waters. Empty sites are open garbage bins and residents point out that no authorities are willing to listen to their woes.

The encroached Rajakaluve of the area has reduced by half from it’s initial 33 feet length existence. Residents also point out that they have to often collect drinking water released by the CMC from one of the open drains because of lack of proper water connections.

Residents also trek over four kilometres to Begur or Madiwala for drinking water. Saakvva, mother of a one-year-old says that a pot of water costs Rs 2, while a can of water costs Rs 45.

These areas also do not have street lights or proper electricity connections. Nearly 80 per cent of the population do not have ration cards. With loss of human life and cattle in the previous monsoons, the authorities are yet to get alerted to the grave situation here, complain residents.

The CMC chairman KS Venkateshappa says 273 programmes have been taken up at a cost of RS 9 crore this year.

However, the residents have planned to present their problems to the Chief Minister in the next Janatha Darshan.