Austin Town kids lose playground

Austin Town kids lose playground
The Times Of India

Bangalore: In a clear violation of zoning regulations, a playground in Austin Town will soon house slum-dwellers from the area.
As part of a Rs 69-crore Basic Service for Urban Poor (BSUP) project, under the Jawaharlal Nehru National Urban Renewal Mission, the BBMP is looking to provide proper housing facilities for 13 slums. It is relocating the slum-dwellers to temporary shelters on the ground, much to the annoyance of residents in the area.
“When we purchased a flat from the BDA about 20 years ago, the layout map said this stretch was a park. They cannot change it now. Where will the children play, and where will senior citizens and other take their walks? Also, what is the guarantee that these are just temporary structures?’’ askangry residents, pointing out that the already the MLA of the area S Raghu has built a door that leads from a school he runs right into the play ground for students to use. The school is called Karnataka Vidya Shala.
“We were barely given the news that ‘temporary structures’ will be coming up in the play ground, and today truck loads of materials has already been brought in and the ground is being dug up,” said a member of Austin Town 1st Stage BDA MIG Flat Owners Cooperative Society.
“The area has another encroachment in form of a temple, now they are going to ruin what’s left of it by building structures here,” complain the residents.
A part of the ground houses the Sree Muneshwara temple, which came up as recently as two years ago.
Technical Adviser, BSUP, Vishwanath, said the playground was the nearest available area for the Palike to relocate the urban poor of that area.
“The transit camp will house 86 families in a three-storey building. We do not want to inconvenience them by relocating them to a farther area. When their dwellings are reconstructed in six months’ time, the temporary shelter will be brought down and the playground will be returned to its original state,” he said.