Getting commercialised

"The IT suburb of Koramangala, once upon a time a peaceful, quiet and safe neighbourhood, is gradually becoming a hell for the residents," say several long-time settlers.

The fast growth of the residential layout of Koramangala and its neighbourhood into a commercial hub has led to several civic issues. When Cityplus undertook a reality check at Koramangala and neighbourhood Ejipura, many burning issues surfaced. Whenever the residents raise these issues in public platforms, they end up with blame game between the officials and residents pointing fingers at each other. Wherever there is presence of active Residents' Welfare Associations (RWAs) the problems are minimized but not controlled completely.
"Faulty interpretation of mixed zoning regulations as per CDP attracted several ill-effects on the residential area. Rampant commercialization of residential area without proper plan of action for infrastructure affects the peaceful living of citizens", says Ravindra Kumar, a civic activist and a resident of Koramangala.
One of the common problems encountered daily by the residents of Koramangala and Ejipura are lack of proper vehicle parking space. The majority of commercial and residential buildings violating the BBMP rule have let out even parking space for rent. This in turn has forced the shoppers to encroach upon bylanes violating the peaceful living of residents. Many a time, it is visible that every street in residential area is blocked by parking on both sides of the roads. Street fights between residents and persons on wheel are daily sights at Koramangala and Ejipura.
While narrating the woes of residents Naveen, G. Manohar, Leo, Vijay Kumar and Latha, all residents of 6th Block Koramangala; Mohan, Sunil and Kiran, all from 4th block; R Shridharan, Prabhakar, Renukaprasad and Sajan, all from Ejipura, explained the bad experiences they had encountered every day: "Many a time even we cannot take out our own vehicle from our compound due to parking of vehicles by outsiders," they said.
"Walking on footpath at Koramangala is a nightmare. Street vendors, cart pullers, shop owners encroach major portion of footpaths. Added to these are the electric poles and the transformer poles erected by the BESCOM hindering the movement of pedestrians. Several places live wires hanging unsafely is a threat to walk on footpaths. Poor maintenance of streetlights by the BBMP makes the footpath walk unsafe during night. Outsourcing of street light maintenance leads to this kind of poor maintenance of street lights", they complained.
Glaring mistakes on the part of BBMP officials seen at several parts of Koramangala and Ejipura. Two temporary sheds built on 11th A Main, Koramangala 4th Block, during building construction stage is still occupied by the labourers. This violation is going on for the last two-and-a-half year. But BBMP has neither initiated an action to clear the road nor collected any ground rent. Another building coming up at 20th C Cross, Rama Temple Road of Ejipura poses a threat to the workers since the live electric wire is passing very close to the under-construction building. Another area of problem relates to garbage throwing at some main junctions and vacant sites. BBMP's dream project of door-to-door collection and garbage free city is not yielded the result so far. Commercial wastes and in certain cases domestic wastes are freely thrown many points as well as inside vacant sites. Even storm water drain and subsidiary drains are also not spared by dumping garbage. This leads to street dog menace in and around these points.
Grace, a resident of 8th Block of Koramangala, while narrating her vows, expressed her fear about the unsafe road walk due to domestic animals, i.e. cows and buffaloes, left freely on main roads unattended. While these animals are roaming in groups, how safe it is to walk on the road, specially children and the aged? They even swallow the greenery grown at parks at roadside, she said.
Unless an amicable solution is derived by the authorities and residents, these problems will remain to disturb the daily life of the citizens.

Parking problem too!
One of the common problems encountered daily by the residents of Koramangala and Ejipura are lack of proper vehicle parking space. The majority of commercial and residential buildings violating the BBMP rule have let out even parking space for rent. This in turn has forced the shoppers to encroach upon bylanes…

--AKSHAYA DEVA