20 wards hold meeting on Day 1

True to the old adage ‘A journey of thousand miles begins with a single step’, some wards in Bengaluru held its first ward committee meeting on Saturday.

According to the volunteers of Citizens for Bengaluru (CfB), an NGO working with the Bruhat Bengaluru Mahanagara Palike (BBMP), close to 20 wards out of the total 198 held meetings on Saturday.

Though it constitutes about 10% of the entire city, CfB members believe that this is a step towards greater results in the coming days.

“It would have been a miracle if all 198 wards had held meetings today. I sincerely believe that today is a historic day for self-governance in our city - a quiet beginning has been made to move governance closer to the people,” said Srinivas Alavilli, co-founder, CfB. Jayanagar, Shankara Mutt, Ganga Nagar, Radha Krishna temple, Domlur, Maruthi Seva Nagar, Rajarajeshwari Nagar, Bellanduru, and Sampangirama Nagar ward are some of the popular wards to have held meetings.

There was chaos at Marenahalli ward as the public were not allowed to participate in the meeting. The corporator, Madhukumari Vageesh, could not participate as she was unwell. The meeting was soon adjourned.

In Jayanagar, it was just like any other meeting as ward committee meetings are being held here since the last two years. However, residents in several wards, like Chokkasandra and Doddabidarakallu, could not participate as no meeting was held at these places.

At Shantinagar, there were only two participants and the meeting was presided over by two assistant engineers and two other members.

Benniganahalli, Vasanth Nagar, Kadu Malleshwara, Vidyaranyapura and Byatarayanapura wards postponed the meeting. The meeting will now be held on December 7 or 8. Some of the common problems raised by the citizens in most of the wards were clearing garbage, lack of proper street lights, poor condition of roads, maintaining footpaths and dangling overhead OFC cables. Mayor Gangambike Mallikarjun, who is also the corporator of Jayanagar ward (153), has directed the authorities concerned to resolve issues at the ward level. “We will review the status of each issue raised by residents in the next meeting,” the mayor said.