A laggard in development!

A laggard in development!
Sandeep Moudgal

Laggere is one of the wards newly added to the list of 198 wards under the Bruhat Banglore Mahanagara Palike (BBMP). Formerly under the CMC area of Dasarahalli the ward is now one of the most underdeveloped in the Rajarajeshwari Nagar constituency. Perhaps, it lags behind every other ward in the entire City !


From crime-related issues to mud roads, the ward has seldom borne the fruits of development that came the City’s way in the past couple of years.

But what sticks out as a particularly sore thumb here is the acute water scarcity. Each house in the ward has a limited supply of water. That too, if it arrives by tanker. Laggere residents have been paying from nearly Rs 400 to Rs 600 for every tanker of water.
There is an acute shortage of drinking water in the ward. Even after repeated appeals made to the engineers in the civic agencies to tackle the water crisis it has been of no avail, complained Siddegowda, owner of a marriage hall in the ward.

According to the locals the most common excuse given by the authorities concerned is that the pipelines are over 100 years old. “We will supply water as soon as the pipes are replaced,” the authorities claimed.

The few existing borewells are another source of drinking water for Laggere residents. But there is a problem. With the impending summer season, the problem will only worsen, added Siddegowda.

The large number of revenue sites in this area is cited as another reason for the crisis. Although, there was some temporary relief from water woes towards the end of last year, a permanent solution is still a mirage.
Uncovered sanitary pits on the roads leading to Laggere is another big cause for worry. Motorists are often caught in a blindspot, since the pits have emerged overnight even before the tar could dry on some newly asphalted roads.

Land mafia and crime
With land getting dearer, the land mafia has only tightened its stranglehold over Laggere. In the IOB Colony alone, locals informed that the same sites have been distributed to nearly four or five people, explained Venkatraju, a bank employee.
Even as the residents are fearful of the land mafia in the area, they are also forced to grapple with increasing incidents of crime. Many feel that the elections could bring in some hope.

M Srinivas, MLA
Rajarajeshwari Nagar
On the water crisis in the constituency:
At least three areas in the constituency are facing an acute water problem. The worst-affected are Yeshwanthpur, parts of Mattikere and Laggere. The primary reason is that we do not have reserve tanks in all these locations. We are now laying thick pipelines and digging more borewells to supply water.

On the numerous mud roads in the area:
My constituency has a large number of revenue layouts and people lived there without roads, sanitary lines, water lines, and streetlights. In the next six months, we will provide these.

Yeshwantpur: 37
One of the busiest wards in the City, Yeshwantpur ironically falls under the RR Nagar constituency. The ward houses market areas and also some residential pockets. The Agriculture Produce Marketing Committee (APMC) has borne the brunt of last year’s monsoon woes. With products worth crores of rupees washed away, APMC traders had been in the eye of a storm. The traffic congestion has eased over the past one year after the construction of the Yeswantpura flyover. However, the roads below the flyover have seen no improvement. Potholes adorn the entire stretch.

Jalahalli: 16
Mostly a Cantonment area, Jalahalli houses the Armed Forces. The few pockets of non-defence residential areas have however been kept happy with better roads and good sanitary outlays.

HMT: 38
The ward was once a hotspot for controversies as residents faced problems of improper supply of water. However, with the Cauvery water reaching the residents here, the problems have died down with more care being taken by authorities to provide better civic amenities.

Jnana Bharathi: 129
It is a ward that spells education. Jnana Bharathi is the home of the Bangalore varsity. However, even this abode of education has not been spared of civic woes. The residential areas, plagued by poor street lighting has seen a big rise in the crime rate. Even the roads leading to the University campus is in a bad condition.

Rajarejeshwari Nagar: 160
Traffic woes and bus connectivity troubles have been the major troubles plaguing this ward. With the bad condition of Mysore Road, the entry point for the ward has been in a state of chaos for the residents here. Even problems of water shortage and patches of mud roads and dug up streets have cropped up in the area.