Date:05/08/2008 URL: http://www.thehindu.com/2008/08/05/stories/2008080560800300.htm

Karnataka - Bangalore

A treacherous road to home for some

Staff Reporter

Storm water drain poses a constant threat
MLA Ramalinga Reddy is proactive, say residents

Bangalore: This is the state of ST Bed Layout, which is off the 80-Foot Peripheral Road. Right opposite the electric pole is the treacherous main road leading to the layout. The entry to the layout is through the first cross, opposite Maharaja Restaurant, over the storm water drain and into the first main of the layout. The first main road is a mess in all ways it could possibly be.

“The shopping complex is an issue in itself. It is situated just before the traffic lights and causes traffic to pile up at the junction,” complains a resident of the layout, who happens to live just opposite the electric pole.

Another issue that residents raise is that the storm water drain could prove to be dangerous and poses the constant threat of someone falling into it.

“Its retaining wall was demolished as part of the storm water remodelling but the gaping hole has been left unattended for a couple of years now,” say residents.

Some residents say they have been talking regularly to the office-bearers of the ST Bed Resident’s Welfare Association, as well as local officers of Bangalore Electricity Supply Company, Bangalore Water Supply and Sewerage Board and Bruhat Bengaluru Mahangara Palike (BBMP) in an attempt for them to complete their work.

“We have also been talking to local MLA Ramalinga Reddy, who is a welcome change as he seemed proactive after the Koramangala election,” they say. “It is because of his intervention that people from the BBMP came and spread powdered rubble in front of our house, although it didn’t make sense,” says a resident. “But after a month of trying to get the authorities to do something, he has more or less given up,” the resident complains.