Garbage on footpath

Garbage on footpath
By Poornima Nataraj, DH News Service, Bangalore:
The pavements on either side of Koramangala Intermediate Ring Road have been transformed into garbage dumping yards.

N S Tilve, a senior citizen and regular morning walker for a decade, has digressed from his routine for the last two years. The reason: the pavements he used to use on either side of Koramangala Intermediate Ring Road have been transformed into garbage dumping yards.

This 65-year-old gentleman is not the only one affected due to the disappearing footpaths. The height of the weeds along the stretch that range between 6 inches and 6 feet have put off many from using these pavements. On behalf of the affected, a local residents association, ‘Forward 68’ has even lodged a formal complaint to the local chief engineer of BBMP two months ago. The present state of affairs there reveals that the effort has gone in vain.

“BDA was in charge of the maintenance work which was good, but eversince BBMP took over the task, they have been transformed into dump yards,” said Tilve. Renovation work related to the pavements were initiated five months ago. However, work had come to a standstill after 400 metres had been completed. “Many pedestrians, including myself, are forced to walk on the main road. Our lives are in danger every time we do this as vehicles on Ring Road rush at great speed,” said a resident Shekhar.

‘No man’s land’ is the epithet used to describe the pavements by the Secretary of ‘Forward 68’, M V K Anil Kumar. “Anyone can dump anything and nobody questions about it. People dump debris from the construction work going on around,” he says.

Official apathy

The top official at the local BBMP office expressed ignorance and said that the area does not come under them. After much research, it was known that the part of the ring road after Eijipura signal belonged to BDA.
When contacted commissioner of BDA B Siddiah, said he is aware of the situation of the pavement and gave assurance that it would be cleared in 2-3 days. Residents around ring road have to just wait and watch.
The particular road had a glorious past as VIPs used to travel along this stretch when heading from the HAL airport to Electronic City. That looks like a far dream now.