BANGALORE: In the heart of the thickly populated Shivajinagar, lies a residential street, that was once filled with happy, playful children. Matman Lane, adjacent to Veerapillai street, is now a narrow alleyway with drainage chambers lying in the path of the passing vehicles. Residents and shopkeepers of the area voice their anger through City Express and urge the administrative authorities to clear up the walkway soon. The Bruhat Bangalore Manahanagara Palike (BBMP) had dug up the road in order to raise the circular drainage chambers and lay down new pipelines. ‘Well begun is half done’ seems to be their motto. Because, the already narrow street, is now strewn with stones, cement blocks, heaps of gravel and rocky terrain. It is impossible to walk through the alley, without falling, let alone ride a vehicle. A few residents, who were intimidated by the authorities refused to give their names in the fear of becoming tangled with such issues. They informed that children of the area have no space to play like they used to before. “Everyday, people fall in the ditches because of the weak and rugged road. The residents cannot use their 2 wheelers because of this,” said Govind, a store owner, situated on the road. He added, that tailors and other shopkeepers have suffered huge losses due to their inability to traverse this rough pathway.When asked if they had complained to the authorities, some said the officials stall the issue by giving lame excuses. There were others who said the Engineer refuses to accept responsibility for the present condition, and so the blame game continues.One of the residents said, “This road was built six years back. One month ago, BBMP dug up the road to lay a pipeline. But for the last three weeks, not one worker has turned up.” They began work with so much enthusiasm and promise, that they gave an impression of profound efficiency. The next day, not one person showed up to finish the work. Another resident Uma Shankar informed, “When my aged parents were walking down this road, they fell down.” He is extremely distressed and wants the road to be safe and made usable again. Chandra Acharya, who lives on Matman Lane owns a car. This, he parks on Osbourne Road which is 10 minutes away. Because of the terrain, the BBMP workers also don’t clear up the garbage from this street. They find it impossible to push the trash wagon on such unreliable lanes. Hence, garbage gets accumulated outside the doorstep of every house. When asked how they cope with the situation, the residents said gloomily,they have to move the stones, clear the mud and take the trash out of the street themselves. They have managed to demarcate a pathway, for their convenience, by doing the same. M Gopi, Corporator of Sampangiramanagara said the issue comes under the jurisdiction of Bangalore Water Supply and Sewage Board(BWSSB) and he conveniently brushed aside the matter.” The matter, when taken to the Office of the Executive Engineer, was presented before RS Kotekar, head of Central Division. After trying to shrug off the mistakes of BWSSB, he promised that work would be completed within one week.One can only live in hope and pray for better days. This is what the residents of Matman Lane cling on to, so that one day their neighbourhood too will be clean and spacious. Only time will tell, if the authorities will keep to their word and prove themselves worthy.
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