BENGALURU: I have been in Bengaluru since 1983 and have seen the city go from bad to worse. Except for our pleasant weather, there’s nothing good left to say about the city anymore. Pollution, garbage and bad roads are the biggest issues I see the city grappling with. For example, in Koramangala, which is the area I stay in, the road outside my house has been dug up for a month-and-a-half for repair of drains. Even leaving my house is a challenge, forcing me to park my car on the road. Other roads in the locality too are a big mess and in a horrifying state. I don’t understand why white-topping is being carried out in a residential area. Besides my locality, other roads in the city too are in bad shape, with traffic being beyond chaotic.
When it comes to garbage, I think people need to get serious about segregation; currently, only certain areas do it. As long as the garbage is out of one’s home, people don’t care where it goes. This attitude needs to change; the government and BBMP can’t take care of everything, we as citizens need to be responsible for our actions and care for the city.
There are certain changes I’d like to see in Bengaluru in the future. The first would be to bring back the glory of the ‘Garden City’ tag. We need more lung spaces like Sankey Tank, Cubbon Park and Lalbagh. Community spaces in every area could be turned into a park where residents, especially senior citizens, can use the space to walk and keep themselves fit. However, we need these spaces to be well-lit, so it’s safe for everyone. And I don’t mean just women, since good lighting and street lights can also help make the city pedestrian and senior-citizen friendly.
While I would like to see more competent ministers in the government, especially in the sports ministry since this is an area we can do better at, I do also think citizens need to be more active participants as well. Everyone knows it takes more than one or two requests to urge BBMP to address a citizen woe. But it would help if people could devote more time to give back to society and make their area a better place.
Solution: Our roads can no longer handle the traffic and we need authorities to do something about this. Perhaps they should issue fewer licenses to cabs and autos. And for those registering new private vehicles, there need to be thorough checks about whether they have parking space within their residential premises since too many cars are parked on the road or outside residential areas. If one doesn’t have the required parking space, they shouldn’t book a car. Or else, they could pay a rental to BBMP. A parking tax, similar to the existing house tax, could come in handy here.