Bus Connectivity Poor in Basavanagudi
BENGALURU: Basavanagudi is one of the oldest residential and commercial localities in the city.
Named after the Bull Temple that is located here, it has six wards — Kathriguppe, Padmanabhanagar, Srinagar, Hanumantha Nagar, Basavanagudi and Vidyapeetha.
The year 1889 saw the constitution of a town improvement committee and in 1898 Basavanagudi became the first new suburb built with a layout design — well-spaced, with tree-lined roads and a proper drainage system.
Located in the south of the city, Basavanagudi borders Jayanagar, considered one of Asia’s largest residential layouts.
Basavanagudi is home to establishments like the Indian Institute of World Culture, the United Lodge of Theosophists and the Gokhale Institute of World Affairs.
Noted educational institutions such as the BMS College of Engineering and the National College are located here. The area is also a cultural hub with the century-old Gayana Samaja promoting Indian classic music.
The main commercial street in Basavanagudi is DVG Road, which has many businesses dating back to the 1970s and 1980s.
At the end of DVG Road is Gandhi Bazaar, a traditional thriving market place and an absolute delight to visit during festive seasons. Basavanagudi plays host to the ‘Kadlekai Parishe’, an annual groundnut fair which attracts thousands of people.
You can’t miss one of its oldest eateries — the Vidyarthi Bhavan — renowned for its masala dosas, or the Mavalli Tiffin Rooms or the Brahmins Coffee Bar.
The well-known Krishna Rao Park is located here.
You can see a slice of history in the Bugle Rock, where Kempegowda built a watchtower (one of four) setting the city’s limits and the Dodda Ganesha temple where the idol which is 18 feet in height was also installed by Kempegowda.
Though it has beome a business hub today, the serene residential paradise still retains its old-world charm.
But this paradise is not without its share of civic problems. These include erratic garbage collection, poor road conditions and street dog menace.
Dirty roads are commonplace while unfinished road works are a bane to motorists and pedestrians alike. In some areas, bus connectivity is poor.
“Since a few of the wards are slightly far-flung, development here is not much compared to other constituencies,” said Govind Naidu, a retired bank employee.