Attention paid to civic issues only prior to elections, say residents

Veena G | NT

Bengaluru:

With each passing day of the Assembly election, more and more civic issues in Bengaluru are being resolved one by one. Citizens report that attention is now being paid to their common problems and attribute it to the upcoming Assembly elections in the state. Here are some problems that are meeting solutions:

Potholes and poor road infrastructure One of the major civic issues in Bangalore has been the poor condition of the roads. The city's roads were plagued with potholes, making it difficult for motorists to navigate through them. However, in the last few weeks, there has been a significant improvement in this area. Potholes are being patched up quickly, and roads are being laid at a faster pace than ever before. A student in BTM Layout, RT Nagar says, “Roads were dug up to replace drain pipes but were soon replaced.

A student who lives there said, “After they replaced the drainpipe, they put the road back quickly, which was quite surprising.” A motorist who frequently travels within the city for work says that he has been seeing lesser potholes in many places. “There is one pothole I came across near Trinity Circle but I think that will be fixed soon too.” These, however, are not applicable to the entire city.

A resident in Chandra Layout said, “In areas like ours and the whole Govindrajnagar constituency have way fewer problems than other places, like ward roads in Vijaynagar or even worse in places in Uttarahalli.” In B Narayanapura, Mahadevapura, a resident claimed, “Two weeks ago, they dug up roads here. Our roads were fine, there was not even a crack until they dug it up. Then it rained and they could not work so they left it like that.”

Garbage disposal In RT Nagar, residents had to carry their trash to throw in the garbage truck every day, which did not arrive at consistent hours. A resident said, "There was this issue a few weeks ago, the people living in the house would have to bring the garbage can to throw it in the truck. And the garbage truck would come at odd hours and most times, no people would be at the house during that hour.

But now it is okay. A resident from Annapoorneshwari Layout said that in the last month, garbage collectors have been even collecting it from the edges of the street where people from other layouts come to throw trash. “For many months, more than a year, nobody picked up trash here regularly. When it overflowed, then they would pick. But now they pick almost every day.” Another resident brought up that creative methods were being used to discourage people from throwing trash- by either putting up artwork, pictures of Gods and Goddesses, or a poster of late actor Puneeth Rajkumar.

The road that runs parallel to the Vidyaranyapura-Nanjangud Road (Toll Road) near the Rashtrakuta underpass has plastic bags of garbage strewed on either side of it. To walk on the road in the middle is like walking on the runway with all kinds of colourful trash bags sitting and sparkling on either side. Herds of goats and stray dogs pick at some in the middle of the day. A resident who lives on the street near this road blamed the people for having no civic sense.

‘In spite of garbage trucks coming here, people throw things here to keep their houses clean. People come from other areas in their cars and twowheelers with waste in a bag and throw it here.' Another one commented on the lack of accountability. 'They have boards declaring there are CCTV cameras and that fine will be imposed, but then you’ll see garbage surrounding that board too. And then, nobody collects it from here