Siddaramaiah's City rounds turn pompous affair

Chief Minister Siddaramaiah’s fourth City rounds on Saturday, was nothing short of a party affair with bouquets being presented, crackers being burst and hoardings lining the route of his cavalcade.

The chief minister was followed by party workers to the ten places he visited, while more supporters gathered to welcome him at each pit stop.

He visited areas falling under the Yeshwantpur and Rajarajeshwari Nagar (RR Nagar) Assembly constituencies, but citizens rued that they hardly got to interact with him. A factory worker from SRS Road, Peenya said: “We wanted to tell the chief minister about the condition of roads and the problems we face to reach Jalahalli Cross in the absence of a link road. But we hardly got an opportunity to speak to him.”

At Sanjay Gandhi Nagar slum, the chief minister’s second stop, residents, who are awaiting rehabilitation in government-built houses, urged him to complete the housing  project at the earliest. At Lakshmidevi Nagar slum, residents complained about the lack of basic amenities such as electricity, water supply and a good drainage system.

The chief minister also visited Kengeri lake, Dubasipalya lake and Herohalli lake, all of which are in a battered condition. At Kengeri lake, weeds had covered the water body and residents around the lake complained of sewage water being let into it. Dubasipalya lake was found to be encroached upon. During his inspection of the work on the FTI Circle flyover and underpass near Kanteerava Studios, Siddaramaiah directed the authorities to speed it up. The Bangalore Development Authority (BDA) said the flyover will be inaugurated within a month while the underpass will be open in six months. The chief minister warned that if the BDA does not meet the deadlines, it will be in huge trouble.

Rs 100 crore funds
During the press meet held after the City rounds at his residence, Krishna, the chief minister said: “A total of Rs 100 crore has been released for the road and infrastructure development works at Peenya Industrial area. At a few pockets, development activities have already been undertaken. For the widening of the SRS Road to Peenya Industrial area, we need two acres of land that belongs to KPTCL. About four to five factories will also be acquired for the widening work.”

He said about 15,625 houses will be constructed under the Rajiv Gandhi Aawas Yojana to rehabilitate residents of Sanjay Gandhi Nagar slum. “The slums are in a bad shape and currently, the residents are living in temporary sheds. The Karnataka Slum Board is already in the process of constructing 700 houses.”

Siddaramaiah said that he also directed the BDA to construct an underpass and service road at Srinivasanagar. To ease the traffic, he directed the Public Works Department (PWD) to construct a four-lane road from Magadi Road, Nice Road area to Kunigal. Siddaramaiah said Kengeri lake would be improved and an underpass would be constructed near the Kengeri bus stand with funds from the Bangalore Metro Rail Corporation Limited (BMRCL).