Bhagamandala lacks basic facilities, works pending

The development works are pending in Bhagamandala, one of the famous pilgrimage sites in Karnataka.

A large number of pilgrims visit Bhagamandala.

The public has expressed displeasure at the lack of toilet and bus shelter in Bhagamangala town, for the visitors who arrive from various places in Karnataka, as well as from outside the state.

Local residents said that Bhagamandala lacks a bus shelter. According to officials, there is no government land for the construction of a bus shelter.

The tourism department has released Rs 5 lakh for the construction of a toilet complex. The tender process has been completed for the same.

The pilgrimage site is also facing the problem of indiscriminate dumping of garbage. Already, officials have identified land at Tannimani, for setting up a solid waste management unit. The survey of the land was completed.

Though the foundation was laid for the unit, the work could not be taken up after the forest department filed an objection to it.

As a result, the officials now have identified one-acre land at Korangala in Ayyangeri Gram Panchayat limits and a sum of Rs 13 lakh has been released for the setting up of the Solid Waste Management unit under Swaccha Bharat Mission.

Of the total amount, Rs 5 lakh will be utilised for the purchase of a tractor for the collection of garbage. The work on the unit will be taken up only after the government releases additional funds.

With the lack of a waste disposal mechanism in Bhagamandala, all the waste and sewage from hotels and houses is entering stormwater drains.

To treat the sewage, a sewage treatment plant has been sanctioned at a cost of Rs 2.41 crore and the work has already commenced.

Though Bhagamandala is situated on the spot where River Cauvery takes its birth, the place is suffering from a proper water supply system. As the work on a flyover in Bhagamandala is in progress, the water supplying pipelines have been damaged.

The water supply system will be rectified only after 70% of the work on the flyover is completed.

Bhagamandala Gram Panchayat vice president Hosoor Sathish Kumar said that there were complaints about the lack of cleanliness in Bhagamandala.

There is a shortage of funds for the solid waste management unit. Once the unit is functional, the problem will be solved.

Bhagamandala GP president Pemitha Sandeep Kumar said there is a lack of space for the construction of a bus shelter. The issue has been brought to the notice of the MLA. The land will be identified after discussing the same with the deputy commissioner and MLA.