Bengaluru: Once life in VGS Layout on Ejipura Main Road was blissful and peaceful. The area had all the necessary infrastructure right from the Intermediate Ring Road connecting to the Central Business District, bus facilities, smooth roads to ride and vast defence land as lung space.
In a span of less than 10 years, the entire geography has changed and now people have to struggle to live peacefully, laments Sunitha Allex, a resident of VGS Layout.
“It is a daily task for me to shoo car drivers away from our gate to make sure that the access to our residence is not blocked and also prevent unnecessary honking near the locality. However, I fail almost every time. With the exams approaching, it is even more difficult to ensure that vehicles are not parked here,” she says.
At least 20 cars are parked across the road on Ejipura Main Road. As it is, commuting to Ejipura with the ongoing elevated corridor work on, is a Herculean task. To top that, parking across the road narrows road space and blocks the smooth flow of vehicles. Vehicle horns keep blaring from morning till midnight. Hardly any traffic cop is posted to check parking, rues Mrs Allex.
Mahendra Kumar, another resident, says the defence land behind the illegally parked vehicles, turns into open air toilets. Cabbies and car drivers continue with public urination and dirtying of locality.
The stench is unbearable and the area has turned into a breeding ground for mosquitoes. As for illegal dumping of garbage, it continues unhindered, says Mr Kumar. This is despite BBMP and Resident Welfare Associations creating awareness to segregate and hand over garbage to pourakarmikas who come on door-to-door garbage collection to check unauthorised dumping. It is a very sorry state of affairs in the locality, he added.
‘Congestion on ejipura main road will end by november’
BTM Layout MLA Ramalinga Reddy under whose constituency the Ejipura ward falls assured that the problem of congestion on Ejipura Main Road would be solved by November end and urged the public to co-operate. Here are excerpts.
The on-going elevated corridor work at Ejipura junction has affected the traffic flow. Have you spoken to engineers to expedite the work?
Obviously when a major work like elevated corridor is going on, traffic will be affected. However, in the long run, the project will benefit not just Ejipura but the whole of Bengaluru. The corridor will be completed by November end and the public can zip through on the corridor and beneath it.
Illegal parking has been a major menace in the area. What measures will you take to prevent this?
Each house has two to three cars and it is unfortunate to say that these people have hardly made any provision for parking. Most of them have leased their property for paying guest accommodation and they themselves park cars by the roadside. BBMP and traffic cops have been directed to ensure smooth traffic flow during peak hours.
What steps have been taken to prevent unauthorised dumping of garbage and urinating in public?
The problem of garbage dumping has come down drastically from the time the collection point shifted to near the regional passport office. In some areas it is noticed that construction debris is dumped in the night and some people have the habit of dumping garbage after the collection vehicles move away. The BBMP officials have been asked to penalise those dumping garbage in open places.
