Urban News

The Hindu 01.03.2010

Garbage and overflowing drains plague residents

Krishnaprasad

— Photo: K. Murali Kumar

A COMMON SCENE: Garbage lies uncleared on a BBMP playground at Richmond Town in the Shanthinagar Assembly Constituency.

Bangalore: The seven newly carved out wards of Shantinagar Assembly Constituency represent a mix of swanky business areas and posh apartments on Mahatma Gandhi Road and Langford Town on the one hand and residential localities of economically weaker sections (EWS) in areas such as Ejipura and Neelasandra on the other.

If traffic congestion, noise and air pollution are sources of constant nuisance to the upscale localities in the business hub, overflowing storm-water drains, irregular clearance of garbage, scarcity of drinking water and clogged road-side drains are daily irritants to the residents of the other localities.

G. Ramamurthy, a resident of HAL 2nd Stage, part of which comes under Jogupalya ward, says some pockets of the area are deprived of water supply.

Pointing out that several projects taken up by government agencies fail to achieve their goals, Mr. Ramamurthy, who is the secretary of Coordinating Committee of Residents’ Welfare Association of Indiranagar, feels that both the civic body as well as elected representatives should consult and take the residents’ welfare associations into confidence before spending money on development works.

“Stink emanating from the storm-water drain, which passes through the HAL Airport Road, and is filled with waste and silt, is a nuisance for us. Even though the retaining wall of the drain has been raised at several locations, there is a need to do much to ensure that water does not overflow from it,” said M. Prashanth, a businessman in Domlur.

Some areas in Ambedkar Nagar, Neelasandra, around Ejipura Main Road, Viveknagar in Vannarpet ward and Church Road in Shanthinagar ward are among the other localities prone to overflowing of storm-water drains after a spell of rain or two.

Kathyayini Chamaraj of Shathinagar Residents’ Development Association said the authorities have neither been able to find an effective solution to stop inundation of Church Road nor have they been able to ensure an efficient garbage disposal system in the locality.

“Garbage too is a perpetual problem. We have been complaining to the Bruhat Bangalore Mahanagara Palike (BBMP) along with the photographs about heaps of garbage spread at many localities but nothing much changed,” says Imran Khan, a resident of Myrtle Lane in Richmond Town.

Shanthinagar legislator N.A. Haris agrees that delay in remodelling of storm-water drains of the Challaghatta and the Koramangala valleys that pass through several localities in the constituency is causing problems to the residents in the low-lying areas. “The tendering process for improving storm-water drains is under way. If the work is not completed before it rains, the problem will reoccur,” he points out.

Mr. Haris blames the contractors concerned for the poor disposal of garbage. “Many contractors fail to deploy the minimum number of people for garbage clearance. The BBMP too has not evolved an effective method to check this,” he said.

Hindustan Times 26.02.2010

The city’s poor, especially those who live in the suburbs, could soon have access to better medical facilities.

The Brihanmumbai Municipal Corporation (BMC) has begun groundwork on implementing the central government’s National Urban Health Mission (NUHM) — an urban version of the National Rural Health Mission.

The mission will be implemented in phases and in its first phase will cover 100 cities, including Mumbai. The idea is to streamline all state and national level programmes aimed at reducing infant and maternal mortality rates in poor urban pockets.

“We are doing our homework so we can implement the NUHM policy smoothly,” Additional Municipal Commissioner, Manisha Mhaiskar. “We also plan to strengthen our slum outreach programme as the basic policy has been sketched out for urban poor.”

The NUHM will focus on adolescent centers, old age clinics, family welfare ands women’s health, including post natal care and detection centers for cervical and breast cancer.

The civic body has begun studying the need for additional maternity homes in the suburbs. “Our health facilities have also been city centric, but with the increase in population in the suburbs we are beginning to strengthen our health facilities there,” said Executive Health Officer, Dr G.T Ambe. “We are carrying out a survey to determine the distance between maternity homes and the nearest slum.

The BMC also plans to open dialysis centres and facilities to cater to lifestyle diseases. It is also considering free healthcare facilities for a slumdwellers.