Residents here want playgrounds and stadiums City ballot Problems

Residents here want playgrounds and stadiums City ballot Problems

M.T. Shiva Kumar
But their quality of life is better than that of other Bangaloreans
— PHOTO: SAMPATH KUMAR G.P.

NOT ENOUGH: The Kuvempunagar playground is one of the few lung spaces in BTM Layout Assembly constituency.
Bangalore: The BTM Layout Assembly constituency, encompassing eight Bruhat Bangalore Mahanagara Palike (BBMP) wards, is a blend of developed and under-developed areas. Though the wards in this constituency are comparatively better off in terms of civic amenities, the absence of sufficient playgrounds for the children and sportsmen of the area is sorely felt.

The area is also home to not only glass-and-chrome high-rises housing information technology (IT) companies and shopping malls and posh apartments, it is also home to the residents of a few under-developed wards and slums that clamour for basic amenities.

Sportspersons too
Yet, lung space and playgrounds are conspicuous by their absence across the eight wards of the constituency, i.e., Audgodi, Lakkasandra, Jakkasandra, Madivala, BTM Layout, Suddaguntepalya, Ejipura and Koramangala. Not only do children here have no playground, a good number of sportspersons staying in National Games Village, Koramangala, BTM Layout and other areas are deprived of proper stadiums here, forcing them to go to other areas.

However, local MLA Ramalinga Reddy said a full-fledged stadium, for which land has been identified, will be built at a cost of Rs. 12 crore near the Udupi Garden shortly.

Traffic snarls
The areas rapid development has brought with it the usual problems: its commercialisation has led to parking problems, particularly haphazard parking of autorickshaws near the Forum mall, Silk Board junction, Adugodi Main Road and other arterial roads posing serious inconvenience to pedestrians. These areas, mainly Koramanagla and BTM Layout, are always crowded with vehicles and traffic snarls are routine.

Mr. Reddy said there are plans for an underpass near the Forum soon but the need of the hour is prepaid auto counters at the mall and the Silk Board junction as autorickshaw drivers fleece the passengers here.

Residents here are thankful for one thing though: unlike their counterparts elsewhere in Bangalore, there are no major ongoing infrastructure works to upend their lives.