Residents make road their own

Residents make road their own

BBMP ignores a stretch which could solve the parking woes of Gandhi nagar

Sunitha Rao R. Bangalore



The conservancy road behind Central College grounds is now for private use as it has been shunned by the Bruhat Bangalore Mahanagara Palike (BBMP) for years.
Some residents, who stay beside the road, are using it for gardening while others totally ignore it by keeping their back doors shut.
Murthy NS, a trader in Gandhi Nagar, said: "The road has never been used. If it is opened for public, we can solve the parking woes of Gandhi Nagar to a great extent."
Part of the city's Central Business District, Gandhi Nagar has a passenger car unit of around 1,500. Putting this conservancy road into use as a parking area will lessen the number of parked vehicles on either side of the busy KG Road, thus decongesting it a bit.
According to higher officials at the Town Planning, the BBMP has provisions to make use of conservancy roads for parking vehicles.
"The conservancy roads are a thing of the past. Such roads must be identified and should be exploited well. In most cases, these roads can be used as parking areas. BBMP engineers should look into the issue," said a higher official from Town Planning on condition of anonymity.
Speaking to DNA, Dinesh Gundu Rao, MLA of the area, said that he would look into the matter. Provisions would be made to use the abandoned stretch of land as a parking area.
"The road has a huge wall on one side and the backyard and a row of houses on the other side. The only worry is that once the road is opened for parking, miscreants may also make their way into this stretch," Dinesh said.
Also, this stretch cannot be used for any other purpose than parking as sanitary pipes have been laid on the road.
Over the last three years, BBMP has not collected a single penny from the residents who have taken this land from the civic body on lease.
A residents of the area said, "This area was given to us by BBMP on lease. But we have not paid BBMP for the space. BBMP can make use of the road for public utility. If not, it can give it to the residents who can convert it into a kitchen garden.
Some residents said that the BBMP could make use of Maharaja's parking lot in Gandhi Nagar for public use and leave the conservancy road for private use of residents.
They said they were prepared to pay a tax for the stretch of road.
In this manner, BBMP could still benefit from the piece of land.