Bursting at seams, Malleswaram wards stumped by debris

Unscientific humps and road-cutting without permission make things worse

Malleswaram is like a sugar-coated pill. The very name Malles-waram conjures up images of old Bengaluru, shady trees lining the streets, food joints dishing out traditional cuisine, among others.

That’s just part of the locality. What lurks inside the seven Bruhat Bengaluru Mahanagara Palike (BBMP) wards – Aramanenagar, Mathikere, Malleswaram, Rajamahal Guttahalli, Kadu Malleswaram, Subramanyanagar and Gayathrinagar -  is more bitter than sweet.
Drinking water shortage, frequent traffic pile-ups due to narrow roads, erratic parking, and mosquito menace are perennial problems faced by residents here.

The busy Triveni Road connecting Yeshwantpur Circle to M S Ramaiah Road is a classic example of the chaos and congestion that mars several pockets of the locality.

Pedestrians and vehicles fight for space even as shopkeepers spill out their wares onto the streets.  Constant honking by vehicles, exhaust fumes and dust rent the air making it almost unbreathable. Malleswaram 8th cross, Gayathrinagar main road,
Subramanyanagar main road, the bylanes of Rajamahal Guttahalli too are reaching saturation point. Motorists tend to take the bylanes to avoid the main road traffic inconveniencing the local residents.

Residents of M R Jayaram Colony and Chinnatayapanagar face mosquito menace. The main source for the mosquito breeding is the open drain running through the locality. Recently, the silt from the drain was removed but still remains to be cleared.

There is no semblance of footpath in nearby Netajinagar. Satish, a resident who has been living in the area for the last four decades, said it has been years since they received Bangalore Water Supply and Sewerage Board (BWSSB) water. The residents have to depend on borewell water or public taps. 

The narrow roads of Divanarapalya, adjacent to the Indian Institute of Science (IISc) campus in Mathikere, are badly maintained. Uncleared household waste packed in plastic bags lie in road corners or in open plots. Neglect has resulted in the lone park in the area being taken over by parthenium weeds. Children of T A Primary School, an aided institution, use the defunct park as a playground risking allergy from the weed.

Clogged drains result in frequent water-logging in the narrow bylanes of Rajamahal Guttahalli.

The residents here seek a more permanent solution to the problem rather than the drains being cleaned manually by BWSSB gangmen to clear the blocks.

There has been a recent attempt to asphalt the roads in the locality. However, it is being done in patches. One comes across a stretch of newly asphalted road and for no reason, the work has been stopped midway.

Entering the adjacent Kodandarampura is a challenge due to the chock-a-block traffic. Residents state the chaos worsens whenever there is an event at the nearby BJP headquarters. There is only limited parking space at the basement of the building, which is more often used as a dining hall. The drivers of party functionaries have no option but to park their vehicles along the busy Temple Street in Malleswaram, hampering traffic movement.

Gayathrinagar and Subramanyanagar have similar civic issues. The two densely populated wards are much cleaner compared to, say, five years back with regular clearance of garbage. Hygienic surroundings have resulted in rentals of households shooting north in residential localities, which were previously marred by dog menace due to uncleared garbage.

However, road-cutting without permission and unscientific road humps have become a threat to motorists. Guruprasad, a resident of the locality, says he cautions the driver of autorickshaws in which he commutes to look out for the road humps. “The humps are laid unscientifically and without the white strips. The roads are dimly lit and the humps do not stand out in the dark,” he points out.

Two-wheelers and cars parked on either side of the already narrow roads in the locality hamper traffic movement.

When the drains were being relaid in Subramanyanagar a couple of years back, some residents even sought that the footpaths have slanting slopes so that they could park their cars on the walkways ! 

A few years back, arrangements were made for supplying piped borewell water in certain areas of Subramanyanagar, which did not receive BWSSB water due to lack of proper linkage with the main pipeline. Water was pumped to tanks and then supplied to taps provided at regular intervals in front of the households.

The system was working well but lack of proper maintenance of the tanks has resulted in the water getting contaminated and smelling foul. Some of the tanks were not closed at the top, resulting in leaves and other waste falling inside.

“We complained to the authorities but no action was taken. Finally, we cleaned the tank ourselves. At least six buckets of waste were removed from a tank”, Jayaram, a resident said.