Residents of Ulsoor in central Bengaluru took to the streets on Thursday, protesting the Bruhat Bengaluru Mahanagara Palike’s (BBMP) “inaction” over a host of civic problems in the locality, especially the poor condition of the 1.3-km-long Annaswamy Mudaliar Road.
More than 100 residents gathered near Shree Complex, close to Ajanta theatre, to raise their voice against the BBMP for not solving problems such as garbage, bad roads, absence of footpaths, among others.
Pointing to the muddy Annaswamy Mudaliar Road, Purushottam Venkataraman, president of Ulsoor Lake Residents’ Welfare Association, said the stretch had not been asphalted in the last 20 years. “It gets flooded whenever it rains,” he said.
“There are no proper footpaths in the locality and most of them have broken slabs and cause accidents. We have been writing to the BBMP for the past two years, but there has been no response.” The residents claimed that the footpath near RBANMS College had not been relaid since the British Raj. They accused the local corporator of ignoring local problems.
Holding placards with messages as ‘We want justice and immediate action’, ‘Don’t pass the buck’, ‘Clean city green city’ and ‘My dream city’, residents sought solution to three main problems: garbage, bad roads and improper footpaths.
Ajay Sapra, a resident, suggested that some people were dumping garbage on the streets and vacant sites. The locality is facing mosquito and dog menace, he said.
When contacted, Ulsoor corporator Mamatha Saravana referred to “technical problems” in floating the tender for road works but promised that all prominent roads in the ward would be relaid within a month.