JOIN USBroke Palike splurges on stylish sidewalks
Who ever said the Bruhat Bangalore Mahanagara Palike (BBMP) is cash-strapped? The ''broke'' civic agency has, in a mindless act, embarked on revamping well-laid cobbled-stone footpaths along the Miller’s Road and parts of Vasanthanagar near Kodava Samaj and further up the stretch.
Residents wonder what prompted the Palike to launch the project when the pavements were in a good condition. Early this week, all of a sudden, workers dug out the interlocking tiles on the footpaths, causing inconveniences to pedestrians. When some traders and residents reportedly questioned the ward engineer, he is believed to have told them the footpaths were being given a facelift with stylish, non-slippery tiles.
“We had no problem with the old tiles. They were neither slippery nor damaged. We don’t really know what made the Palike take up the work,” said a shopkeeper, requesting anonymity. There are quite a few places in the ward crying for the Palike’s urgent attention. In the vicinity, there are uneven footpaths with missing slabs, inviting accidents. There are huge stone slabs lying by the roadside posing a danger to motorists.
Heaps of soil are dumped on some pavements forcing pedestrians to walk on the road with heavy vehicular movement. The irony is the Palike engineers have no clue who is doing the work and what its cost estimates are. Right from the chief engineer to the assistant engineer of the BBMP East Zone Deccan Herald spoke to, say they have no idea who ordered the project.
Former minister Katta Subramanya Naidu’s son, Katta Jagadish Naidu, who was incarcerated for his involvement in a land grabbing case, is the corporator of the Vasanthanagar ward.