Koramangala: Chic nightclubs, fancy cafes, hifi IT offices... tons of garbage

Ahna Prakash | NT

Bengaluru: Ward number 151, Koramangala, is home to fancy cafes, night clubs, IT offices and a lot of garbage piling up on streets. The ward falls under the BTM Layout Assembly constituency and is surrounded by Ejipura, Madiwala and Agram. Kormangala like any other ward in Bengaluru faces a lot of civic issues like delayed garbage collection and deteoriated roads.

But one of the major issues in the area is the infamous Ejipura–Kormangala flyover. The construction of the flyover has missed its deadline several times and it can be said that the completion of the flyover is still a distant dream.

Ram Krishna, a resident of the area, who was driving past the flyover construction area, says, “The condition of the area is so bad that plants are growing on the construction material. It has been so many years and still the officials can’t decide what to do with it. This is exploitation of the tax payers money.”

Despite people complaining from several years about the delay in construction, there is no agency as of now to attend to the issue. The stretch has become a dumping ground for garbage and construction material. People in the area blame it on the irregular timing of garbage pickup.

Srishti, a resident of the area who lives near city’s popular DYU art café says that people often throw garbage on the side of the road.

“The problem is that the BBMP garbage collection truck doesn’t come everyday. Obviously, people cant pile up waste in their homes for long so they resort to throw it on the street. But it keeps laying there creating a terrible atmosphere for the passers-by,” said Srishti.

She also pointed out that because Kormanagala has many bars and clubs in the locality, it becomes difficult for the residents at night. Her roommate, Radhika, says that during her work from home shifts at night, it becomes difficult for her to concentrate on work because of the loud music.

“The law has already put a limit on bars to not play music at night. But here, even at midnight the clubs play loud music. We can’t call the police every day. It has become a routine thing for the bars and its very disturbing for us,” she said.

The ward has two Rajakaluves that form the Koramangala-Challaghatta Valley. Residents say that the area gets terribly flooded during heavy rain in the city. “During September floods the entire area was flooded with water and not onbly was it flooded but it was also stinking terribly. Every time it rains the water is all over the streets. I think that there is blockage in the drainage system because people throw garbage in it. But it’s the officials responsibility to look into the matter and get the drains cleared,” said Anil Kannambele, a resident.

Anil’s house was severely flooded during September rain and he claims that the rain water destroyed electronic gadgets at his home. People also complain that roads in the ward are frequently dug up.

Ranganadhan, another resident says, “This is a common problem in all of Bangalore. There was a perfectly fine road which was resently build. But BWSS people came and dug up the road again to install something. Why cant these civic agencies discuss among themselves and plan better. Because of ill management common people have to suffer.”