Nuisance for residents

Nuisance for residents
Fathima Sumaya Khan & Satish Shile, DH News Service, Bangalore:
Many residential localities of the City have witnessed unprecedented growth of hotels, canteens and small eateries. While taking care of the gastronomic needs of the people, these could be a nuisance too.

Customers flock to these joints day in, day out, causing a lot of inconvenience to the people in the neighbourhood.

Inevitably, they spew out smoke and are a source of constant noise as they cook food and wash utensils. They also create parking problems. So much so, they have become a big headache for neighbours. Who issues trade licence to these places to run their business?

Deccan Herald did a reality check of some areas in Bangalore to find out whether these hubs are a boon or a bane to residents.

JAYANAGAR
The Biggest problem faced by residents here is with parking of vehicles. “Vehicles parked by customers of hotels cause parking problems. The 9th, 10th and 11th Mains which are suppose to be residential areas have now become commercial. Youngsters park their cars and two wheelers haphazardly on main roads blocking traffic and disturbing our peace,” said Ravishankar A, a member of Jayanagar Cultural and Civic Association.

Dr Surendra, a resident, narrates this menace from his personal experience. “A hotel came up next to my house a few years back. It used to be open till midnight. My family was fed up with the hotel boys dumping dirty utensils in front of my house and vehicles parked on the entire street. I had to fight for the closure of this hotel in the Supreme Court because a number of complaints to the BBMP showed no result. The hotel closed one year back but that space is still being used by its owner for catering purpose,” he said.

Localites of 7th Block are troubled by a particular hotel next to a hospital which seats its customers on footpaths. This illegal encroachment of public property doesn’t seem to bother anyone.

SHANTHINAGAR
Residents of Shanthinagar have derisively called their area ‘Ashantinagar’ for long time. With the rapid commercialisation of most residential properties, chaos reigns supreme. Nanjappa Cross is one such place. “There are small canteens here which don’t have enough space to serve food inside their premises. People park their vehicles on roads and eat food blocking movement of pedestrians and motorists. If we ask them to move to a corner, they get us into heated argument,” said businessman Rahim Baig, a resident.

Eateries dishing out non-vegetarian items are also a big source of mess in this area. Cleanliness is the least of their priorities. “Left-over non-vegetarian food and waste are often dumped on roads attracting dogs which fight over them. It adds to the existing unpleasantness and the barking of dogs is unbearable and maddening,” complained Sarita, another resident.

KORAMANGALA
No part of Koramangala can be called residential. The boom witnessed by IT and other businesses has led to a huge demand for hotels in this area by the working class. Roadside dhabas and restaurants located cheek by jowl to houses dishing out Punjabi food are the main attraction here.

A visit to 7th block, 1st main road of Koramangala will make you wonder whether you are actually seeing houses located on a busy commercial road or vice versa. “Most often men who visit these places with their friends spend long hours outside these joints over a single cup of coffee and also smoke. They litter the roads with empty cigarettes packs, dirty paper plates, tea and coffee plastic cups as none of these joints bothers to provide a dust bin,” said software professional Vishwanath K N.

“Bangalore is known for its food culture but it’s disgusting to see people wash their hands and rinse their mouths and spit on roads after eating food from petty bakeries,” said Ajith, a student from a private tutorial.

LAVELLE ROAD
Numerous coffee shops and eating joints that have sprung up on Lavelle Road recently have taken away the ‘residential road’ tag from it. Young crowds which flock to these coffee shops during weekends showing off their driving skills and music systems of cars have increased the miseries of residents. “Its impossible for us to come out of our houses for a walk on Saturday or Sunday evenings. Cars and two wheelers are parked right in front of our gates. If we try to chase them away, we are called names and humiliated by young men and women who have no manners,” fumed Arabella, a resident.

Worker of a particular coffee shop provides a different take on this whole issue. “Such problems are often caused by some of our ignorant customers. We are in no way concerned with how they behave outside our shops,” said Anil (name changed on request).

NRUPATHUNGA ROAD
Want to have non-veg for lunch? Head for Nrupathunga Road. Here you get non-vegetarian food items at a lesser price than in any other hotel in Bangalore. Three-four mobile eateries set shop in front of office of Commissioner of Public Instruction by afternoon on week-days.

Within a few minutes time they set up the eatery. Cook food even as public pass by. Stones on the ground act as furniture for customers. They start serving food by 12 noon and pack off by 4 pm. Surprisingly these stalls do business hardly a kilometre away from BBMP head office!

ULSOOR
Two unnamed stalls thrive on Muniswamappa Road in Ulsoor. Neither displays trade licence taken from the Palike. During business hours, they set tables and chairs on the footpath obstructing pedestrians. Hygiene is the last concern of these stalls.

Gopi Kumar, civil contractor and resident of the locality, said the Palike officers do not take steps to close down such shops though they are very much aware that such eateries are violating norms. Moreover, they throw left-over food along with garbage on roadside causing nuisance to the localites. “I don’t know how the Palike can allow such shops continue with their business”, he said.

On 6th cross, ward number 81 in Ulsoor, a mobile idly stall springs up by 7 a m. By 8.30 a m the road is packed with customers obstructing movement of vehicles on the road. The mobile eatery continues to do business till the afternoon. Moreover three houses on the road have converted their houses into hotels. However conversion is not difficult. They place a table and gas cylinder right on the footpath in front of their house and start cooking in public. Furniture inside the house is provided only for a handful of lucky customers. The rest have to stand outside with plates in hand.

WILSON GARDEN
Small hotels and canteens have mushroomed in almost all residential limits coming under Wilson Garden. “Our house is opposite a small eatery which is very clumsy. Left-over food and banana leaves are thrown on streets carelessly by the eatery workers. We have requested them to dump all the waste far away from houses but the owner doesn’t pay any heed to our pleas. We are mute spectators,” complained senior citizen Seetaram V./

LICENCE MUST
Apart from this, it has also made life miserable for women folk. “Its impossible for women to step out in the evening. We can’t even stand inside our compound. Men chatting and smoking in front of these joints pass comments or tease us,” said K Lakshmi, a housewife whose house is next to a popular hotel in Wilson Garden.
Schedule 10 of Karnataka Municipalities Act says it is mandatory for all kinds of eateries to obtain trade
licence from the Palike. However many shops that come up on space meant for public utilities have not obtained licences from the palike.

OFFICIALSPEAK
The BBMP health officers of respective areas are responsible for checking operation of food joints that run without trade licence. These officers are given necessary instructions by BBMP in this regard.
B V Kulkarni,Joint Commissioner (Health), BBMP

If residents complain to us about problems faced by them due to hotels in residential areas, we will inspect such places. Hotels that don’t exhibit trade licence attract penalty based on BBMP norms.
Dr L T Gayathri,Chief Health Officer, BBMP