Refreshed by a newly elected body, the Bruhat Bangalore Mahanagara Palike (BBMP) is on the threshold of another march towards a better Bengaluru. For citizens, this is a time to nourish hopes and set the agenda for their elected representatives.

Partnering with citizens, Deccan Herald and Prajavani on Saturday gave a push to that aspiration by facilitating a dialogue between citizens, MLA, corporators and government officials from Rajajinagar Assembly constituency as part of the “Citizens For Change” initiative.

The event saw a range of issues being discussed at length and assurances from the public representatives and the officers. Along with Rajajinagar MLA and former minister S Suresh Kumar, six corporators and a host of government officials were present to address the grievances and promises to be delivered in the coming years.

Citizens demanded the BBMP and other civic agencies to put up display boards with specifications wherever public works are carried out. Garbage, chain snatching, stray dog and mosquito menace, encroachment on footpaths, streetlights, poor maintenance of parks and playgrounds were some of the issues, the residents wanted their corporators to address.

The programme began with Yoga Narasimhan of Rajajinagar Second Block highlighting the plight of pedestrians, especially the senior citizens, who are denied of a smooth passage on 12th Main Road between First Block and Second Block, resulting in a detour to reach other side of the road.

In reply, MLA S Suresh Kumar said he had brought the problem to the notice of Bangalore Metro Rail Corporation Limited (BMRCL). The BMRCL officials say that the problem persists at many places and creating smooth passage everywhere will lead to traffic congestion.
He, however, assured Narasimhan that he would once again impress upon the BMRCL to look at this issue sympathetically.

Gopal Kamath pointed out the pathetic state of footpath on Thimmaiah Road where the shops, garage and vehicle parking have come up leaving no space for pedestrians to walk. “Whatever little footpath is visible, they are in bad shape due to shoddy construction and poor maintenance,” he said.

BBMP Executive Engineer Prabhakar said the works were carried out by the Major Roads division of the BBMP and he would ensure that the pavements were repaired.

Tree on the road
A tree, occupying almost half of the road was annoying to N Venkatesh, who sought to know the relief BBMP could offer to the motorists. The Palike forest division officer expressed his helplessness due to the acute shortage of staff. However, he said he would address the issue next week.

Thyagaraj, representing the Dr Rajkumar Abhimanigala Sangha, delved on the poor condition of roads in Prakash Nagar, to which the BBMP assistant executive engineer Nagesh Reddy said the work was entrusted to the KRIDL and the quality reports were to come. Once the report comes, the BBMP will take up the work.

Representatives of Siddappaji Residents' Welfare Association (RWA) complained that various development works worth Rs 40 lakh were carried out but in a shoddy manner.

In reply, the BBMP engineer assured that he would visit the area on Monday. A similar grievance was of Manjunath of Basaveshwara Nagar, who complained that the Netaji Subhas Chandra Park and other parks in the area were not maintained properly. Despite assurances for the last 10 years, there was no change in the situation. He suggested that display boards must be put up wherever public works are carried out detailing the specifications.

“Set up a strong ward committee involving citizens. Put up display boards giving details of the each and every public work that is carried out in the area. We hardly come to know what type of work is being carried out and how much money has been invested on it,” said Manjunath.

Suresh Kumar accepted the suggestion and said he would make sure that the display boards are put up wherever works are carried out.

Despite being one of the oldest and posh areas of Bengaluru, Rajajinagar faces acute water shortage. Many residents complained about the water scarcity. Some of them even complained that the water is being supplied to private houses from the public borewells dug by the BBMP.

Being a former BWSSB Minister, Suresh Kumar explained to the gathering that at least 50 per cent of Cauvery water brought to Bengaluru from more than 100 km away, goes missing either in the form theft or leakage. He said this needs to be checked to ensure water for all.
 
We will fulfill the promises, says MLA Suresh Kumar
Rajajinagar MLA S Suresh Kumar has urged the people of his constituency to have faith in the assurances given by the public representatives and the government officers as they will be fulfilled.

In his concluding speech during the ‘Citizens for Change', Kumar said, “People have a feeling that the problems narrated by them and the solutions assured by the officials will not be fulfilled. Let me assure you that we will fulfill the promises made here.” The four-time MLA from Rajajinagar said the next public meeting at his constituency will be held shortly and the topic will be traffic woes. During the next meeting the action taken report of the assurances given at the Citizens For Change will also be presented.

He agreed that the display boards with information about the works was a good suggestion, which will be followed. Suresh Kumar hailed the Prakash Nagar ward corporator G Padmavathi for highlighting the poor condition of crematorium in her ward. Speaking about the footpath encroachment, Kumar said it was a delicate issue, which needed to be handled carefully.

In view of growing incidents of chain snatching, Kumar said, “We have decided to put up 100 CCTV cameras in the constituency which will be implemented in the next two to three months time. Also, during ‘Citizens for Change’ programme, about 27 park-related complaints have come up which will be looked into. From henceforth, citizen interaction programmes, like this, will be held in our constituency regularly.”