Poor amenities make life miserable for residents here

Poor amenities make life miserable for residents here

Staff Reporter

Over 600 houses in these blocks of HBR Layout were flooded during a downpour

The layout was formed by the BDA

Bangalore: Poor state of drains, water entering houses during rain, lack of pavements, improper water supply, bad roads … The list goes on.

Residents of the first three blocks of HBR Layout have been experiencing these problems for a long time.

It is the flooding of over 600 houses in these blocks during the recent downpour that highlighted the problems of the layout, formed by the Bangalore Development Authority (BDA).

The BDA handed over the layout to the erstwhile Byatarayanapura City Municipal Council without providing proper civic amenities, and recently it came under the jurisdiction of the Bruhat Bangalore Mahanagara Palike (BBMP). A storm water drain overflowed during the rain and houses in these blocks were inundated, posing a health risk, pointed out members of HBR Layout Residents’ Welfare Association.
Overflow

“The storm water drain at several points has huge gaps and the retaining walls are not high enough to prevent overflowing. The flow gets blocked at several points,” points out S. Sridhar Ramaswamy, president of the association.

Residents point out that silt removed from the drain is dumped close by and it gets into the drain again when it rains, giving scope for another desilting contract.

Brig. Narasimhan J.S., a member of the association, and Mr. Sridhar say that the BBMP officials from the Byatarayanapura zone got the obstructions in the storm water drain cleared recently. But the residents want the authorities to ensure that the problem does not recur.

The poor garbage disposal system and encroachment of sites earmarked for civic amenities and that of the Kacharkanahallikere lake-bed are also cited by the residents.