JOIN USIndiranagar BDA complex in a shambles
A walk around the three-acre shopping area reveals that there is zero intervention in terms of maintaining cleanliness. There is garbage piled up across the complex and the area reeks of urine, as people relieve themselves on the walls.
Liquor bottles are thrown into the stormwater drain, thereby impeding the smooth flow of rainwater. Four government nodal agencies have their offices in the complex, but they don’t seem to be bothered about the deplorable conditions.
Ramesh Rai, Secretary of the Indiranagar BDA Complex Shop Owners’ Association, told Deccan Herald: “I have a shop in this complex since 1983 and I don’t remember any period when this place was well-maintained.”
While the blue board at the entrance to the complex says there are 80 shops in the premises, currently only about 30 (apart from the government-run ones) are functioning.
Harish Begane, the President of the Association and owner of a beer outlet in the complex, said: “The BDA has not collected rent from owners of shops that downed shutters. Why can’t the vacated shop space be allotted to others?”
Harish and Ramesh each pay about Rs 7,000 a month for the 400 sq ft they have taken on rent. By not letting out many of the shopping spaces, BDA may have lost about Rs 1.35 crore in the last five years alone.
The BDA had planned to demolish the existing structure and build a new complex in 2009. However, the plan failed to take off.
Harish wrote to BDA Commissioner Bharat Lal Meena and Commissioner of Police, Jyothi Prakash Mirji, on September 19, 2011, complaining about the following: Lack of maintenance, the faulty high mast flood light, drunkards littering the area at night, stormwater drain not desilted and having broken slabs for over a year. But the BDA and the police are yet to respond.
Meena could not be contacted despite repeated attempts. Hooligans seem to have taken over the vast space in the Indiranagar BDA Complex. The area is packed with cars and bikes that come into the drive-in bar, which illegally serves alcohol right under the nose of Excise Department’s office.
The parking area could also be used in a better way for the Metro station on CMH Road. The complex is only a five-minute walk from the station. Says Begane: “There needs to be a lot of activity in this area for people to come and park their vehicles here. This space is so dead that many are not even aware of the parking facility in the complex.”
Metro commuters from in and around Jeevan Bima Nagar, HAL, Domlur and surrounding areas can park their cars at the complex and walk to the Metro Station on CMH Road. The SV Road Metro Station is also not very far from the complex.
With two Metro stations in such close proximity, the complex has the potential to develop as a major commercial space provided the authorities take interest.