Mahadevapura’s chronic civic problems are out in the open
An open forum was held in Marathahalli on Sunday where voters from the constituency sent around 500 questions to the organisers, a few of which were answered by the candidates contesting the impending
Published: 30th April 2018 05:55 AM | Last Updated: 30th April 2018 05:55 AM | A+A A-
Candidates contesting from Mahadevapura constituency interact with the public at a private hotel in Marathahalli on Sunday | pANDARINATH B
BENGALURU:An open forum was held in Marathahalli on Sunday where voters from the constituency sent around 500 questions to the organisers, a few of which were answered by the candidates contesting the impending elections from there.
Organised by Million Voter Rising campaign, supported by Bellandur Forum, Belthur Rising, Nallurhalli Rising, Force GW and Bangalore Apartment Federation, it saw the incumbent BJP MLA Arvind Limbavali, Congress candidate AC Srinivas, Aam Aadmi Party (AAP) candidate Bhaskar Prasad, Swaraj India candidate Ramesh Chander and JD(S) candidate Sathish K discuss the most pressing issues plaguing Mahadevapura constituency.
The constituency, home to tech companies, has a daunting traffic challenge that has been worsened by Metro construction. Its lakes grab national attention as they catch fire or spew foam onto roads. They are also under the National Green Tribunal’s scanner time to time with the green panel passing orders for its restoration with no avail.
The residents had the candidates sign manifestos stating that regardless of the party at the Centre, State, MP level or corporator level, they will deliver. The constituency has eight wards -- Hoodi, Garudacharpalya, Kadugodi, Hagadur, Doddanekundi, Marathahalli, Varthur and Bellandur.Within 90 days, the residents wanted two public lands in each ward to be fenced. They also wanted their MLA to lobby and get a separate BBMP budget and structure allocated for Mahadevapura zone with full financial powers to the local joint commissioner.
When asked about the three major problems of the constituency, traffic, pollution of lakes and garbage disposal was mentioned by all.All candidates agreed in unison that traffic was the biggest problem of the constituency.BJP MLA Arvind Limbavali said, “We should encourage car pooling and have separate dedicated lanes for carpooling.”
To his suggestion for constructing more flyovers, urban expert V Ravichander who was also the moderator for the session said, “That would discourage public transport as buses are not allowed to ply on elevated corridors.”JD (S) candidate Sathish K suggested that IT companies should have staggered timing so that the roads are not chock-a-block during peak hours.
Congress candidate AC Srinivas suggested that water tankers should be stopped from plying on main roads, all commercial vehicles should only ply on the Outer Ring Road, and major commercial companies should not be allowed to be set up on the main roads.
Swaraj India candidate Ramesh Chander said that new apartments should have sewage treatment plants. Sathish asked for the implementation of the AT Ramaswamy reports. AAP candidate Bhaskar Prasad suggested interlinking of rivers through rajakaluves.
