BENGALURU: As the State Government races to complete the ambitious Indira Canteens project before Independence Day, it faces many hurdles and challenges, in some cases quite troublesome to the public.
In the quiet residential area of Manjunatha Nagar in Rajajinagar, residents are protesting the conversion of a small local park into an Indira Canteen.
The park, approximately 1,200 sq. feet in area, is used by mostly children and senior citizens. The local authorities, residents say, have planned to convert this land for the Indira Canteen project. Residents are strongly opposed to this idea and have expressed concerns to the local authorities.
“The park is mostly used by old people during the mornings and evenings. With the park gone, people will have no other way to spend their leisure time,” says K Panduranga Rao, a resident of the area.
Also, the park is located next to a temple and houses a banyan tree. Residents fear that this tree could be cut down for the construction of the canteen.
Locals say that the park is also a place of worship due to its proximity to the temple. An alternate solution is to construct the canteen on an open ground next to the park. But even that has been opposed by children and students who play cricket and badminton on the field.
“The idea of constructing the canteen here is wrong. This is a quiet residential area and a new Indira Canteen may cause problems to the residents. Together with other people who use the park, we have filed a petition to our corporator and MLA Suresh Kumar. They have agreed to leave the park intact. We are strongly opposed to the cutting down of sacred trees within the park that people use for worship,” says HG Hanumantappa, who works at the temple and filed the petition.
No final decision has been taken yet regarding the conversion of the park. The Congress corporator G Krishnamurthy says, “We received numerous complaints from residents that the park hosed students who smoked and drank in the facility which caused a nuisance. Further, the park is built on a wasteland by the locals. Therefore we decided to build the canteen here, there was no other location big enough could be found in the area around Rajajinagar. We understand people’s concerns and a final decision will be taken soon.”