UNENDING WOES

UNENDING WOES
Incomplete Civic Work, Improper Coordination Leave Residents Helpless And Fuming
TIMES NEWS NETWORK

Bangalore: There’s no end in sight to the wait for BBMP elections. But residents of some parts of the city are not even bothered about it. They’re just waiting for some way out of their immediate woes.
Many of these problems have been caused by the hectic work started in recent times. The sudden start, never-ending delays and improper coordination and implementation of plans and policies have left them seething with rage.
Venkatesh’s plight perhaps tells the story better. The huge pipeline work at Banaswadi 80-Feet Road has been in progress for the past 10 days. The deep trench is ready and residents along 7th Main, 7th Cross, in Subbaianapalya Extension are bearing the brunt. With no proper interim arrangement, some can’t even step out of home. What’s worse, they don’t know which agency is handling the project.
“We understand major work always requires some cooperation of the people. But, we should also be informed about it, if not in advance at least when it happens. Women and children find it so difficult,” says Venkatesh.
NANDINI LAYOUT
Apart from new work, unchanged garbage clearing practices continue to irk residents in many other areas. Curiously, this continues even after intense publicity and awareness programmes listed for a ‘clean’ city. At a time when the BBMP hopes to rope in more residents into the system through segregation of garbage at source, pourakarmikas in many areas still dump the collected waste in vacant sites.
K Karthikeyan, an NRI and owner of a row house in Nandini Layout, was in for a shock when he visited his house recently. There were stinking heaps of waste, feet away from the master bedroom window in front of the house.
“I’ve been suffering for years now,’’ he says. Due to the garbage around his house, he’s kept the place locked without tenants for two years. “Neighbours tell me it happens due to non-availability of garbage containers. People are forced to dump garbage in open grounds. Unfortunately, I have become a victim and lost considerable returns from this property,’’ he says.
Karthikeyan, who plans to move back to the city after 13 years, is keeping his fingers crossed. “It’s unbearable. I can’t imagine staying here,” he says. He has written to the BBMP commissioner about his plight and hopes the mess is cleared soon.
Is there any way out?
Never-ending delays and improper coordination and implementation of plans trouble residents They don’t even know which agency is handling the project Garbage heaps continue to pose a threat in many areas Pourakarmikas in many areas still dump the collected waste in vacant sites