Home minister's constituency shelters civic woes one too many

Located in the North-Eastern part of the city, Sarvagnanagar assembly constituency is represented by Home Minister K J George. The constituency has wards that are developed and those that are still on the threshold of development.

Nagawara (23), HBR Layout (24), Banaswadi (27), Kammanahalli (28), Kacharakanahalli (29), Kadugondanahalli (30), Lingarajapuram (49) and Maruthisevanagar (59) are the wards that fall under this constituency. In wards such as Nagawara, HBR Layout, Banaswadi, Lingarajapura and Kadu­­gondanahalli, the main problems are linked to bad roads and poor drainage system.

The BDA-developed HBR Layout is riddled with potholes and motorists on main roads have no choice but to bear the bumpy rides. The worst affected is the first main road, 5th Block, HBR Layout as the lane is battered with uncountable potholes. To make things worse, the road has not been asphalted for years.

Apart from bad roads, irregular Cauvery water supply and lack of sanitary outlets also plauge a few pockets of area. Muniraju N, Secretary of Hennur Residents' Welfare Association (RWA) said that the layouts in and around Hennur do not have sanitary outlets. This, despite people getting sanitary connections a long time back from the Bangalore Water Supply and Sewerage Board ( BWSSB). In the absence of outlets, sanitary pipelines directly gets let into the open drains.

In Nagawara ward, citizens complained of lack of drains along some roads. “The Philomena hospital road does not have shoulder drains.  Hence, the houses are inundated with rain water during every downpour. While the former Councillor did visit us and interacted, there was no action undertaken to solve the problem," said Lakshmi, a resident of this ward.

HRBR Layout 1st Block residents complained about the ill-maintained Storm Water Drain ( SWD) in their locality. Executive president of the Bangalore North East Residents Welfare Association, D S Rajshekhar, pointed out that despite appealing to BBMP officials, no action has been taken to stop the sewage water from flowing into the SWD located at eighth Main,  HRBR Layout, 1st Block ( Banaswadi ward).
 
“Sewage enters the SWD from houses at Chelekere. There have been three to four Dengue cases reported till date due to the mosquito menace. The residents staying close to the SWD are forced to close their windows through out the day due to the stink. Our association is fighting to get this issue resolved for five years now," said Rajshekhar.  
Poor garbage disposal and mosquito menace are other persisting problems in the constituency. The black spots can be seen at JN Shetty Road at Lingarajapuram, 80 feet Road and 7th main road at HRBR Layout; first Block, OMBR Layout, and HBR Layout, amongst others.

While residents of Kammanahalli and Kacharakanahalli wards do not have any complaints on civic infrastructure barring garbage disposal, motorists and pedestrians complained about traffic congestion, especially on Kammanahalli main road and Maruthi Seva Nagar flyover junction.

“The Kammanahalli main road is always congested. Moreover, BMTC buses stops haphazardly on roads. Another issue here is there are no proper bus shelters on the stretch,” said a resident, Nandini N C. A trader complained that the main road, at a few stretches, is occupied by hawkers. Pedestrians face problems while walking.

The main issue faced by residents of Lingarajpuram is the delay in completion of a box-type underpass beneath the Lingarajapura railway track. They said that the work has been delayed by seven years. Only recently has the project picked up pace. Jairaj A, a resident said: “Schoolchildren and women find it difficult to cross the Hennur main road, where the track is located. It is dangerous in the night as there are no fences at the project site.”

In KG Halli, situated a few kilometres away from Nagawara ward, a number of problems are left unattended. Frequent power cuts, improper drains, garbage dump yards and bad roads haunt residents.

“I am residing here since 25 years. I have not seen much development works taking place here. Only during elections, the candidates visit us to seek votes. But once they win, they forget to discharge their duties," said MG Rajan, an elderly citizen from Vinobhanagar, KG Halli.

At OMBR Layout of Banaswadi ward, residents complained about BBMP being partial while carrying out fogging activity. Shruthi Keerthy, a resident pointed out: "While fogging is carried out at posh localities in our layout, it is not done in areas where the poorer sections and labourers live. It is the case in areas such as Lakshmamma Layout.”