Waking up from slumber

Citisense Padmanabhanagar

Until recently Kumaraswamy Layout, which is a ward of the Padmanabhanagar constituency, never had good roads, parks or culverts. The scene was no different  in any other part of the constituency. For instance, Padmabhanagar, Ittamadu, Ganesh Mandir Ward, were all in pathetic condition.

Now there are signs of improvement with road asphalting work in the constituency is nearing completion. New culverts are being constructed at various places, a majority of roads have got street lights and cleaning of drains is going on at many places. The BBMP has taken up the lake works to rejuvenate them.

“We have taken up Gowdanapalya Lake, Dorekere and Yediyur Lake to save them from encroachment and beautify them. Dorekere and Yediyur Lake are the pride  of Bangalore as both were constructed by Nadaprabhu Kempe Gowda, the founder of Bangalore City,” said the Transport Minister R Ashok, who is MLA of this constituency.
However, everything is not so rosy and there are complaints from residents. The members of Abhyudaya, a federation of the Residents’ Welfare Association say developmental activities are not to their satisfaction.

“This is Ashok’s fourth term as MLA. Nothing significant had happened in the three previous terms. We accept that works are going on but we  expect him to save the CA sites and lakes, besides checking corruption in public work,” said Mukunda, the general secretary of Abhyudaya.

The members’ prominent demands are the Ittamadu road connecting to the AGS Layout and the KS Layout main road  be widened and a CA site at Radhakrishna Layout be freed from encroachment.

Efforts should be made to clear the Chikkalasandra Lake from encroachment, which has been land filled  and a number of houses have come up. They also demanded  demolition of houses, which came up illegally on civic amenities sites.
In response to the charges levelled by the RWAs, transport minister R Ashok accepted some truth in the complaint. Before delimitation the Uttarahalli constituency, which also Padmanabhanagar ward was spread from Electronic City to Nayandahalli.

His work was not so visible because of the vast expanse of his constituency. “Now that the size of my constituency is reduced to almost one-fourth as compared to the previous constituency, my works are more visible,” said Ashoka.
According to Ashok, another reason for failing to meet public aspirations was that the previous governments never allocated proper budget for Bangalore due to which developmental activities could not take place here.

With a substantial number of revenue layouts, narrow roads are posing grave threat to the commuters in this constituency. One may not remain dumfounded on seeing the gigantic BMTC buses  negotiating on 35-foot wide road at Ittamadu or 40-foot wide road at Kumaraswamy Layout.

Another major challenge in this ward  is a project to clear the road block has in fact hit a road block.  The Kadirenahalli Underpass is yet  to be completed while the BBMP is claiming that  it would be completed in the next three years.

Soon after the Kadirenahalli underpass work is completed, three more projects of similar type would be started  on the same road. “We want a signal free road from Kanakapura Road junction to Nayandahalli. We will be building an underpass at Kanakapura Road-JP Nagar junction, three-tier road connectivity at Kittur Rani Chennamma Circle and at Ittamadu Junction,” said Ashok.

There  is  no dearth of problems here but adjacently there are good signs of development in this ward.

Padmanabhanagar constituency is not the one, what it was till two years ago.


Wards

161 - Hosakerehalli
165 - Ganesh Mandir
166 - Karisandra
167 - Yediyur
180 - Banashankari temple
181 - Kumaraswamy Layout
182 - Padmanabha Nagar
183 - Chikkalsandra




In Conversation

R Ashok
MLA, Padmanabhanagar





There have been complaints from various quarters of your constituency for being unable to perform in your previous three terms.

It is true to a certain extent that developmental works had taken a back seat over the past few years. One main reason behind it being that the constituency received little support during the previous regimes. With the BJP government in power we have been able to show development in Padmananabhanagar. Before delimitation the Uttarahalli constituency, which I represented in the Karnataka Assembly thrice was the biggest one in the State, hence it has been a challenge to address the problems of all the residents here.

So does it justify your  non-performance during your previous terms as MLA from here?

It is not that no work was commissioned during the previous terms. We installed new sanitary lines worth Rs 200 crore. In the last three tenures work worth Rs 2,500 crore were done in my area.

The Ittimadu Main Road that has been on the back burner for a long time. Has there been any follow-up on this?

The Ittimadu road-widening work has been a problem due to the opposition creating impediments for it. The road widening work needs land acquisitions for which the opposition has been raising a hue and cry over it.

Another major issue in Padmanabhanagar is the encroachment of Civic Amenities (CA) sites? What is your position on it?

The encroachment of CA sites have happened over the years. It is mostly being done by land sharks who have taken over these lands meant for public use. In Radhakrishna Layout, it has reached its limits. Since the matter is now in the court, it is sub-judice.

What is the current status of the Kadrenhalli underpass?

The Kadrenhalli underpass work has come to a standstill due to the inaction of the contractor. The previous government had not selected the right contractor. We have already imposed a Rs 80 lakh fine on him. The Rs 25 crore underpass will be completed by January next year.

What other developmental works have undertaken in Padmanabhanagar?

We are embarking upon the rejuvenation of six lakes in the constituency. Three prominent lakes among these are, Dorakere, Gowdanapalya lake and Yediyur lake. We also are constructing a three-tier grade separator at Kittur Rani Chenamma junction to ease traffic congestion.