Dead Sunday Agenda

Dead Sunday Agenda
The interactive forum of ABIDe to air public grievances turned out to be a one-sided affair, with authorities having nothing to offer as solutions for the much harried citizen
GAYATRI NAIR & NEETHU REGHUKUMAR


Well, they came, gave vent to their grievances and went back with empty hands or rather promises!
This was what members of the general public, suffering from the city’s chronic power and water shortages, traffic problems and lack of other civic amenities, felt about Sunday’s public consultation of the Agenda for Bengaluru Infrastructure and Development Task Force (ABIDe).
The meeting, which spanned over three hours, heard complaints on all major issues facing the citizen, but fell short of providing any solution. This despite the who’s who of all important departments being present at the forum.
EMPOWERED BUT POWERLESS
When Muralidhar Rao, associated with a civic interaction website praja.in, pointed to the city’s power problem, made worse this monsoon by both official and unofficial powercuts, Bangalore South MP Ananth Kumar promised to set up a 5,000 MW power station exclusively for Bangalore (Which translates as ‘nothing for now’ for the citizen!).
But when in no mood to relent, Rao pointed out that such a project was unfeasible in the city, Kumar beat a hasty retreat, clarifying that the plant may not come up in the city, but power from the same would!
HO HO OVER BMTC
The audience then took to Bangalore Metropolitan Transport Corporation (BMTC), which came up for criticism for the non-implementation of the much touted Hop on Hop off (HOHO) project, supposed to start in February 10.
“What happened to the project? The BMTC is more interested in giving space to Big Bazar rather than focusing on transport,” said Rao, in his scathing attack.
“What about the regulatory body that was formed called Bangalore Metropolitan Land Transport Authority (BMLTA)? Why has it not been empowered?” he continued. But response, if any, was not forthcoming.
NOT IN CONTROL
Meanwhile, S N Subramanium, a 79-year-old resident of Benson Town and general secretary of an NGO called Dedicated Servants of India, tore into control rooms that simply don’t function.
“I have called the control room number 22660000 in Malleshwaram four times and complaints were registered. But no action has been taken and no follow up done. What’s the use of having them then?” he asked.
Predictably, no solutions were put forward even as A S Kamat, vice president of Karnataka Pradesh Hotel and Restaurant Association, suggested ways for civilised parking. “In many places there are zones with 24-hour no parking. We should adopt the model akin to the one in the West, where there are parking restrictions during peak traffic hours but not 24 hours. For example, parking should be not allowed in congested areas on weekends but allowed on weekdays,” he said.
SAFETY FIRST
Safety of pedestrians was the overriding concern of Pradeesh Thomas, a PG student in construction management from Xavier Institute of Management and Entrepreneurship. “Whenever you start widening roads, pedestrian safety is the first casualty. Do we have to wait till 2020 for pedestrian safety. With so many construction works going on, have you planned for the safety of pedestrians?,” he asked.
But, like all others, silence greeted these queries, with the more irate in the audience walking out in protest. So much for interactive forums!
They asked questions