The Hindu : Karnataka / Bangalore News : Kadugondanahalli choked with trenches

Online edition of India's National Newspaper
Monday, Dec 13, 2004

Karnataka

Karnataka - Bangalore

Kadugondanahalli choked with trenches

By Vidyashree Amaresh

BANGALORE, DEC. 12. The stench from an open drain is what greets a visitor to Kadugondanahalli (ward no. 94).

Though many complaints have been made on poor infrastructure, bad roads and irregular clearing of garbage in the locality, the situation has not improved.

"The civic authorities do not seem to bother much about even newspaper reports [about the poor condition of the area]. There seems to be no effect, for nothing is rectified," says a woman in the area. "Even the former Chief Minister S.M. Krishna had expressed concern about crumbling infrastructure in the city and lamented the present state of affairs.

If there was no improvement in the condition of existing roads, he rued, multinational companies would shift base to cities such as Hyderabad or Chennai. Eventually, the State will not only lose revenue but also thousands of jobs," says another resident.

Stagnation of dirty water, a result of drainage connections emptying out to the big drain, has made life miserable for the ward residents. Despite repeated requests by them to the Bangalore Water Supply and Sewerage Board to solve the problem, nothing has come through so far.

The residents have also pleaded for Cauvery water connections in all the streets. Now, they are forced to cross the Gandhi Nagar Bridge and stand in queues for long to collect water.

The drains have been left open, inconveniencing those living nearby. To add to the foul smell, tannery and slaughterhouse wastes are dumped in the drains. "There are many children in this area and there is a potential threat of their slipping and falling into these drains. The authorities concerned fail to realise that houseflies and mosquitoes that breed here will cause serious health problems, especially to infants, " says a mother of a 11-month-old baby.

"The absence of streetlights in the Gandhi Nagar area has made things easy for anti-social elements. There was a murder recently, and chain snatching and petty thefts are rampant," notes a resident.

The people lament that there is no garbage-removal facility in the area. Garbage has been dumped here for years.

This is the main reason for the outbreak of many diseases.

"It has been quite some time since we requested Bangalore Electric Supply Company Ltd. officials to remove the three poles erected on the middle of the road.

Though they assure us whenever we approach them that the poles will removed, nothing has been done so far."

The ward councillor was not available for comments.

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