Benniganahalli residents keep politics off civic issues

Cutting across political party lines, locals of the predominantly residential area get proactive to have their civic infrastructure grievances addressed by approaching the authorities concerned with the help of elected representatives. From having storm-water drains and parks developed to ensuring black spots are periodically cleaned, they have had their way with tasks most people find difficult to have accomplished by the powers that be, reports Y. Maheswara Reddy:

Benniganahalli is one of the seven wards of CV Raman Nagar Assembly constituency. One specialty of its residents is their proactive approach to have infrastructurerelated problems fixed by the authorities concerned. The other specialty is that they do not hesitate to approach elected representatives irrespective of their political affiliations.

They approached corporator Meenakshi Lakshmipathi (Congress) and MLA S Raghu (BJP) to get their grievances redressed till September 2020 when the Bruhat Bengaluru Mahanagara Palike (BBMP) Council term ended. Now, they are depending on MLA S Raghu to get civic and infrastructure-related problems in the area fixed.

“We have no complaints either against former corporator Meenakshi Lakshmipathy or present MLA S Raghu. Both of them have responded to our pleas and complaints positively. All our demands may not have always been met, but that is not because they haven’t tried enough,’’ said Kasturinagar Welfare Association president Venugopal Rai.

The proactive approach of Kasturinagar residents has resulted in developing a good rapport with the authorities concerned and the elected representatives. “We have succeeded in getting the BBMP authorities to complete the development of a stormwater drain on the Second G Main Road,” said Rai.

Prior to this, Rai started Kasturinagar Rising with five like-minded residents in 2018 with the objective to beautify black spots under the Benniganahalli flyover. “We spent Rs 4.50 lakh to clear debris and mud dumped under the flyover, as also to beautify its underbelly. We have also organised Kasturinagar Habba. The then mayor Padmavathi attended the function and assured us that she would have the debris cleared, but forgot her assurance,’’ he recalled.

In 2019, Rai was elected president of Kasturinagar Welfare Association (KWA) and Kasturinagar Club. He, along with other members of the KWA played a key role in renovating the Club House and organising health camps and distributing and planting medicinal plants, besides a one-month-long free fitness programme for the benefit of residents.

However, the residents are not happy that their long-pending and “muchneeded” facility – proper road connectivity to the Old Madras Road – has not been realised. With the narrow railway underpass constantly jammed with vehicles, the residents have to take a detour of almost two kilometres to get onto Old Madras Road.

The other big problem of the area is nuisance students of a reputed college here cause. They also complained that some “wayward” boys indulge in wheelies on roads here, thus causing a lot of inconvenience to motorists and pedestrians alike. Street vendors occupy most of the space on footpaths, forcing pedestrians onto the road, they rue.

“I want the BMBP authorities to ensure a proper connectivity to Old Madras Road and develop the 14-acre forest land for the benefit of us residents,’’ said Venugopal Rai, president, Kasturinagar Welfare Association.

“There are no CCTV cameras in the area. I want the BBMP authorities to fix them and increase police patrol to prevent robberies in the area” said HC Puttaswamy Gowda, a local.

“Street vendors are a nuisance in the area. The BBMP authorities could relocate them in the forest area. This will benefit residents as well as the street vendors,” said N Ramesh, secretary, Kasturinagar Welfare Association.

“Dust emanating from dug-up roads has become a health hazard, especially for asthmatic patients who live here. I want the BBMP authorities to asphalt the roads here on an SOS basis,” Sujatha Ashok, EC member of the association, added.