Tilted, uprooted or vanished: Street nameplates in HBR Layout

They were erected at a cost of Rs 10 lakh last year by the BBMP

Some are tilted downwards, some lying on the ground, completely damaged. The street nameplates erected at a cost of Rs 10 lakh last year by the Bruhat Bangalore Mahanagara Palike (BBMP) have done no good to residents in the HBR Layout ward.

As a result, residents struggle to give directions to visitors. The area, once part of the City Municipal Council, was given a makeover by the Palike in the form of nameplates last year.

Within a few months, however, the yellow nameplates began crumbling. Residents blame the “unscientific” manner in which they were erected by the Palike.

The ward (No 24) falls under the Sarvagnanagar Assembly constituency and comprises Byraveshawar Layout, Choudappa Layout, North Hennur, Punappa Layout, HRBR Layout 1st East Block, HBR Layout 2nd (P), 3rd, 4th and 5th Blocks, Nanjappa Layout and Chennaiah Layout.

‘No response’

N Muniraj, the secretary of Hennur Layout Residents’ Welfare Association, said he had made representations about the nameplates to BBMP Commissioner M Lakshminarayana, on July 27 this year. He also took up the matter with ward engineers and corporator B Govindaraju.

“There has been no response as yet,” he said. “The nameplates were erected in a haphazard way without concrete.”

In Byaraveshwara Layout and Chikkanna Layout, residents say, nameplates have either fallen or tilted. In Sonnappa Layout and Muddanna Layout, the name of the layout, street, etc, have not been painted yet on the nameplates.

Palike officials conceded that nameplates should be installed systematically.

“Ideally the ground should be dug up to two feet after which the space should be filled with concrete. On the top of concrete, the nameplate is to be mounted,” an official explained. “These works should be supervised by the local corporator and engineers who, in turn, should hand them over to the contractor.”

The height of the nameplate should be at least eight feet and sometimes 10 feet.
H M Ramaiah, a resident of Byraveshwara Layout, rued that in one of the lanes, the height of the nameplate was just about four feet. In HBR Layout 4th Block, the situation is worse, as no nameplates can be sighted. Palike engineers claimed to having recently installed new nameplates in 2nd, 3rd and 4th Blocks in the layout in question at a total cost of Rs 14.5 lakh.

But residents have a different tale to tell. One of them, on the condition of anonymity, said: “We have 12 lanes in the 4th Block but there are no nameplates on even a single road. Where did the money go?”

Local corporator B Govindaraju has refuted the residents’ claims, arguing that nameplates might have fallen accidentally. “Some nameplates have been hit by vehicles and got damaged. I will ensure they are restored,” he said, blaming the works being carried out by the Bangalore Water Supply Sewerage Board and the Bangalore Development Authority for the mess.