Infrastructure crawls, growth races ahead

Infrastructure crawls, growth races ahead
No hospitals, proper waste-management mechanism. Residents can only hope...
Aarthi R | TNN

DAY TWO WATER, HEALTH AND SANITATION
MAHADEVAPURA ZONE
15 WARDS
Bangalore: Industries and huge townships came in faster than the basic infrastructure in this zone. Common woes: the long wait for Cauvery water, floods during rain every year and poor solid waste management.
WATER MOST PRECIOUS
Whitefield, Hagadur and most parts of Mahadevapura face frequent water shortage. The solution: private tankers and borewells. While the affluent residents buy water on a daily basis, the poorer sections get water from nearby borewells and neighbouring areas. Some hope now: Getting potable water from the drying Varthur lake. The lake is being fenced. The BBMP has prepared a sewage bypass plan for the lake. Funds are yet to be allocated.
A bigger project proposed for the development of this 470-acre lake is being reviewed. The project envisages diverting sewage that flows into the lake and studying the feasibility of treating and using the lake water as an additional drinking water source.
This lake is the final culmination point for the tank water from Bellandur and Challaghatta lake systems. Now, the lake has almost turned into a sewage pond.
Another ray of hope is that the work on laying the water pipelines is reaching completion. But residents may have to wait longer for the water to reach their houses. Reason: The Cauvery water supply scheme, stage IV, phase II that proposes to bring in additional 500 MLD potable water into the city is yet to be completed. A greater share of the water is meant for these newly added areas of the BBMP.
FLOOD WOES DRYING UP
The good news: Seeing fewer areas being hit by floods during the heavy rain last year. The vulnerable points are decreasing with increasing work on the various storm water drains. Over 30 vulnerable points have been identified by the BBMP when it took over this zone. But today, there are only five vulnerable points, say official records. These are: Vijinapura, near Tulsi theatre in Marathalli, Sarjapur Road, Vaddarapalya and Pattandur agrahara.
The problem area: The Sai Gardens apartment near Whitefield. Coming under the Seegehalli village panchayat limits, the huge apartment complex is on the tankbed region of the Elemallapa lake in Avalahalli. The complex gets inundated everytime the lake overflows, thanks to its location on the banks of the ‘nullah’ (that drains from the lake to Varthur kodi). The drain works in the last one year might bring in a change from this year, hopes the BBMP.
SOLID WASTE MANAGEMENT
Solid waste management is a major concern for the residents. A garbage-free zone might take a few years to become a reality.
Take this for instance: A narrow connecting bridge once, is now a dump spot. Residents say authorities have done nothing to clear this worn-out and out-of-use bridge near the Varthur lake.
The silver lining is that despite poor garbage disposal, the stray dog menace is not so acute.
The other concern is pollution. Though Kadugodi residents are happy with rapid industrialization, they are worried that the industrial effluents are polluting many local water bodies.
BBMP TALK: “After we have taken over, things are changing. We introduced a new package for solid waste management on January 1. We will soon introduce the concept of segregation of garbage at source for the houses,’’ a BBMP zonal official said.
OTHER PROJECTS
Mahadevapura, an erstwhile CMC, has no sports facilities, no auditoriums and no libraries. Neither is there any government hospital. A 27-acre plot in Gunjur has been allocated to the sports department for a multi-purpose sports stadium and fitness destination. A 100-bed government hospital has been planned in Siddapura.