`Government has ignored Bangalore'

`Government has ignored Bangalore'

Special Correspondent

BANGALORE: Two Congress MLAs representing constituencies in Bangalore, R. Ramalinga Reddy and Dinesh Gundu Rao, on Friday alleged that the slow pace work on remodelling storm water drains by the Government headed by H.D. Kumaraswamy was the sole reason for flooding in some parts of Bangalore following the recent rainfall.

They told reporters here that instead of criticising the former Chief Minister S.M. Krishna for the mess, Mr. Kumaraswamy should have taken steps to complete the remodelling on time. The Chief Minister had not held a single meeting with legislators from Bangalore to tackle the problem, they said.

Mr. Kumaraswamy had blamed consultants chosen by the Krishna government for the recent flooding and remarked that they had been hired by those who wanted to turn Bangalore into Singapore.

Mr. Gundu Rao said the Government had not given serious thought to tackling basic infrastructure bottlenecks in Bangalore. It had neglected development projects for the past 15 months. "Why do we need the Chief Minister if he is not serious in tackling the city's problems? It is better to have President's rule," Mr. Gundu Rao said.

Mr. Reddy and Mr. Gundu Rao said the Krishna government had initiated work on remodelling storm water drains, allocated funds for the development of 500 parks, launched the "Swachcha Bangalore" programme and built several flyovers.

Though Bangalore was grappling with many problems, the Kumaraswamy Government had done nothing for its citizens, they charged.

The former Bangalore Mayor P.R. Ramesh was present.