Has money gone down the drain?

Has money gone down the drain?
By Satish Shile
Potholes, garbage, open drainage pits and cobble stones piled up on the the sidewalk of the stretch of MG Road between Cauvery Emporium and Trinity Circle put the pedestrians at risk in dark.


Bangalore city has been selected for overall development of urban infrastructure under the Centre’s Jawaharlal Nehru National Urban Renewal Mission. So far the Centre has approved 13 works proposed by Bruhat Bangalore Mahanagara Palike. The Centre contributes 35 per cent of the total cost of these projects and remaining is shared by the State government and the Palike in the ratio of 15 pc and 50 pc respectively. The Centre started releasing first installment of its share for the work in December 2006. So far the Centre has released Rs 68.3 crore for urban infrastructure works. Deccan Herald has done a reality check on the status of important works taken up under the JUNURM. Today’s spotlight is on MG Road.

Potholes, garbage, open drainage pits and cobble stones piled up on the the sidewalk of the stretch of MG Road between Cauvery Emporium and Trinity Circle put the pedestrians at risk in dark. The lid of an underground drainage pit close to the BMTC bus stop is not covered properly, letting the sewage water spill on to the sidewalk. This, after the Bruhat Bangalore Mahanagar Palike (BBMP) has reportedly spent Rs 27.85 crore recently to upgrade the sidewalks and roads in the area!

The Palike has taken up the Rs 43.61-crore project under the Jawaharlal Nehru National Urban Renewal Mission, which got Centre’s nod on January 22, 2007. The Union government released the first installment of its share of Rs 3.81 crore on February 23. The rest of the cost is to be borne by State government and the the BBMP.

According to the detail project report, the work will be completed by December 2007. Records available with Deccan Herald says that altogether Rs 27.85 crore has been spent on the work. But where was the money spent?

BBMP commissioner S Subramanya said the work on the MG Road area was still on. “We have upgraded some of the sidewalks. The works will be finished soon and the road will have better sidewalks,” he said.

When pointed out that the condition of the sidewalk did not improve even after spending so much money, he said he would review the works taken up by the Palike. “If something has gone wrong I will look into it”, he said.

The public are worried over bad state of sidewalk on MG Road. They are upset with the delay in completing works taken up under JNNURM. G S Siddesh, an employee of a travel company, said it was difficult to walk on MG Road in after dark. “Particularly on rainy days it is a Herculean task to walk on the sidewalk.

There are no street lights on the stretch between Symphony theatre and BMTC bus stop. I have seen many people tripping in the evenings, he said.

Problems do not end even there. The on-going Metro rail work has increased the traffic congestion on the stretch and during traffic snarls, two-wheelers use the sidewalks. “Edges of sidewalks should be constructed in such a way that no vehicle should cross it.

Whenever there is a traffic jam, two-wheelers enter sidewalks in front of Canara Bank and jump the traffic signal by passing through the petrol bunk”, said S Gopi, who deals in real-estate business in Marathahalli.