Garbage, water scarcity plague Gandhinagar

Gandhinagar, located adjacent to the National Highway passing through Kolar City is plagued by lack of civic amenities. Shortage of water and bad roads characterise the residential area.

Gandhinagar included in the second ward of the City, is also called ‘Kelaginapete’ or ‘Hosapete.’ The area is said to have been dotted with gardens and farmlands and derived its name after Mahatma Gandhiji visited it in 1933. It is known as ‘Kelaginapete’ since it is located in the lower area of the Kolaramma tank.

Former president of the City Municipal Council, Dr Govindaraju, recalls that the residents of Kolar camped in the area in 1911 during the outbreak of plague. As if reminiscent of its old days, one could even now find houses amid green fields.

Local people attribute the development of Gandhinagar to the foresight of T Chennaiah. During his tenure as the chairperson of Water Board, Chennaiah took the initiative to develop the area with wide roads.

Still a majority of residents do not have a title deed for their property, but have the khatas in their name. After Chennaiah, Gandhinagar was neglected, according to residents.

The well constructed in the Gandhinagar with the sole purpose of supplying drinking water to the residents stands testimony to the foresight of Chennaiah. Water from the well used to be supplied to Kurubarapet, Kote extension and other areas as well.

However, now, of the seven borewells in the area only two yield water which is insufficient to meet the water requirement. Consequently, the overhead tank constructed years ago has been rendered useless. The space below the tank is being utilised as a cattleshed.

According to sources in the City Municipality, three more locations have been identified to sink borewells in the area. All the while, the area continues to face scarcity of water.

Some residents are dependent on tanker supply while those who can afford use mineral water. Water taps have disappeared and the supply through pipes is insufficient. The area has about 10,000 population.

The state of roads is no better in the locality. Except the road connecting Gaddekannur and four main roads, the rest continue to be kachcha roads. Fed up with the poor state of roads, local people had planted saplings on the road, some years ago, as a mark of protest.

The area is represented by V K Rajesh, who owes allegiance to minister Varthur Prakash. Even the road where the house of the councillor is located has not been asphalted. Garbage greets any visitor while the public toilet has been rendered useless.

Peoplespeak

Some roads have been asphalted after a gap of about four years. Surprisingly, the work was carried out in the dead of night, perhaps for the fact that people may question on the quality. There have been shoddy development work.

A homemaker who wished to remain anonymous

Gandhingar requires a separate overhead tank. There has been an increase in the population and consequently water problem too has aggravated. More borewells need to be sunk to address the problem.

Ramana, a resident.

Gandhingar lags behind in development. The underdevelopment is closely linked to politics. There is no count of shabby work.

Venkatesh, retired headmaster

Several top ranking officers have come from Gandhinagar, but the area continues to lag behind in development. Gandhinagar could develop only through the concept of non-partisan, apolitical projects.

Dr V Govidaraju

Several roads have been asphalted and some concrete roads have been constructed in Gandhinagar. It has been planned to construct a park too. A majority of the borewells sunk earlier have dried up and hence water is being supplied by sinking new borewells. After the efforts made by Chennaiah, no one put up this much effort to develop Gandhinagar. Projects are taken up under Karnataka Municipal Reforms Programme and any shoddy work could be rectified.

V K Rajesh, Councillor