BENGALURU: Residents of Indiranagar have appealed to Deputy Chief Minister G Parameshwara not to demolish the BDA complex and chop 171 trees to build a mall that they did not need. The residents, instead, urged the Bengaluru Development Minister to construct a park where the complex currently stands. The DyCM, accompanied by other officials, met residents during an inspection of civic works within the CV Raman Nagar constituency here on Monday.
Within the premises of the Indiranagar BDA complex, he interacted with the Indiranagar residents, who gave him a memorandum requesting the authorities to not demolish the complex which housed 171 fully-grown trees. Residents also complained of other issues, including over commercialisation of the locality. “The wine stores and other larger units exist in areas which are marked residential in the Revised Master Plan-2031,” Swarna Venkataraman, a resident, told the Minister.
Bangalore Central MP P C Mohan was also present during the interaction. Taking a jibe at a senior minister, who is a partner in the Embassy group, he said, “If anyone from Embassy group wants to make money by constructing a mall, do not allow them,” Mohan said, and supported the residents’ demand.
Addressing the residents, Parameshwara said his intentions were to make the city more livable, keeping in mind its growth rate. He asked 5-10 residents to meet him next week to discuss alternatives for the complex, and also assured them that he would resolve the other issues in two months.
The DyCM inspected storm-water drains near Domlur flyover, Jeevan Bhima Nagar Main Road and New Thippasandra Main Road. He laid the foundation stone for construction of an underpass worth `45 crore at the junction of Suranjan Das Road and Old Madras Road. Officials estimate that it would take 18 months for its construction.
Parameshwara said he had undertaken the inspection to see for himself the prevalent issues in the constituency. “Every year during September and October, the city gets a lot of rain, causing flooding and entry of water into homes. So as a precaution, I had instructed officials to work on storm-water drains and wanted to check on the same.” He said while some officials had complied, others had not, and he had instructed them to finish the works before the rains start again.The DyCM’s convoy movement through the city caused traffic blocks for prolonged periods, leading to congestions.
‘Will instruct BBMP to fix cap on awardees’
Responding to over 500 people being conferred the Kempegowda Awards, Parameshwara said he did not know why so many awardees were chosen, and from next time he would instruct BBMP officials to fix a cap on the number of awardees.