BANGALORE: Queen’s Road dhobi ghat is situated at a prime location of the city, near Karnataka Pradesh Congress Committee Office, adjacent to Jasma Devi College. Around 30 washermen families depend on this dhobi ghat to wash clothes and also for their livelyhood.
The dobhi ghat was an ideal location for washermen from Shivajinagar and Queen’s Road. However, the lack of space to put up clotheslines has become a major problem for washermen at this dobhi ghat. “We have to depend on the vacant space behind the Karnataka Pradesh Congress Committee office to dry clothes. We have already requested the Bruhat Bangalore Mahanagara Palike (BBMP) to allocate the vacant land adjacent to the dhobi ghat but in vain,’’ said V Chandramurthy, president of Rajakula Sangam.The washermen had made many futile attempts to meet Corporator Katta Jagadesh to solve their problems. With Jagadeesh being either busy with his own business activities or spending months in prison, the washermen had no privilege of meeting him. “We are happy on court granting bail to Katta Jagadeesh. We want to meet him and explain about our difficulties if provided an opportunity,’’ said Chandramurthy. Whenever the KPCC organises a function at the vacant space, the washermen have to remove the clotheslines. They have to postpone washing clothes till the KPCC office removes the chairs and other material from its backyard. “We have no other place to dry the clothes. We cannot ask the KPCC office to vacate the chairs and other material as soon as functions are over. We have to depend on their generosity,’’ said M Mohan, Treasures of Rajakula Sangam.
The other problem of washermen is shortage of water. They have to depend on an open well that becomes dry during summer. The BBMP authorities have made arrangements to dug a borewell but has forgotten to equip it with a water pump. “We have to depend on the borewell for water to wash the clothes in summer. We have been requesting the BBMP authorities to equip the borewell with a water pump for water supply,’’ said Mohan.The shed available to keep the washed clothes is also too small. It is learnt that BBMP authorities have visited the dhobi ghat a few months ago to prepare a plan for its modernisation. “There is no dearth for assurances but nothing has been materialised till date. Our MLA Roshan Baig has also assured to do something for the development of dhobi ghat. We have to wait and watch,’’ said Mohan.