As the Bruhat Bangalore Mahanagara Palike (BBMP) entered its second year on Wednesday, residents of the five newly-added zones and 20 divisions were busy battling out problems related to the lack of even basic civic infrastructure. Deccan Herald interacted with residents of a few wards in Mahadevapura Zone, one of the newly-added areas, for a reality check on the developments.
The overriding feeling among residents is disgust and pessimism with the present administration. And one common problem they spoke of - water. Listing out a few other civic issues, they opined that the erstwhile CMC used to do a much better job.
“As far as I know, nothing has been done. There has been absolutely no improvement at all in our roads,” said Uma Shankar, an employee at Venkateshwara Stores, K R Puram.
Munikrishna, an MNC employee, who resides in R H B Colony, Mahadevapura, points out to the clogged drain filled with garbage, on the street near his house. “Nothing has changed. The erstwhile CMC would clear garbage daily,” he complained.
Nagesh, a businessman from R H B Colony expressed worry over the blocked drain, which runs right in front of his house. “The water will seep into the foundation of my house and severely damage the building,” he lamented.
M S Subramanya, an advocate, put it aptly when he said, “Promises were plenty but implementation is empty.”
Wait for revenue!
Confronted with these problems, a top BBMP official had this to say: “Only if revenue comes in, can we actually do something concrete. Right now, revenue is very low. The Rs 600 crore we hoped to garner from the Sakrama scheme and invest in the development of the areas too has come to a standstill now.”
More funds are expected for the new zones in the next budget. “Though the areas were formed before last budget, we could not earmark enough money as budgetary allocation work usually begin by the October of the previous year.”
BBMP guidelines have to be observed for all procedures. New tenders, according to an official, had to be called even for garbage removal. “Contracts have to be awarded, and we need money for it all,” he said.
Another official said the extended area which was around 800 square km was quite huge and one year was just too short a time to make a judgment on the change effected.
