Aerators, pigs, traffic, tree cutting & more stories…

Nonsensical neigbours and how to tackle them

If you are a resident opposed to errant neighbours, there could be a few solutions for you.”The person who lives next door never listens to anyone,” complains Sector 1 resident Kavitha Reddy. “They give mixed waste, throw garbage at will. He never follows rules and creates nuisance in the locality. Since I told the BBMP guys not to collect mixed waste from them, they are now trying to provoke me by throwing garbage on the road and in my garden area too.” Sector 4 resident Suresh Bhaskaran has a solution. “Once I had this issue with one neighbour in Jayanagar,” he recalls. “Our friend did a good thing. Simply threw back the waste into his neighbour’s house through the kitchen window. It landed in their food and created a mess, but they followed the rules after that. A similar issue happened in HSR. We picked the waste and gave it back to our neighbour in a sweet manner. They realised their folly. We did this only as a last resort when we became completely helpless. Sometimes it works.”

Tree trimming issues

When Bescom turns up to remove the branches, ensure it’s only the branches that are impeding the road and the cables. Cutting overhanging branches that block the easy passage of school buses is fine, but simply chopping the tree branches for no apparent reason is practically killing the tree. Object and you will be heard. Be vigilant and be all eyes.

HSR means ‘Hub for Social Responsibility’

HSR boasts of some great eco champions, prompting one resident to rename it as ‘Hub for Social Responsibility’ instead of the original ‘Hosur Sarjapur Road’. Apt, indeed. But much more needs to be done as civic apathy is rampant. However, such examples do give us hope that others will follow suit. According to Shanthi T, there is one house owner in HSR who is growing mangoes, guavas, jackfruits, bananas, custard apples, strawberries, radishes, tomatoes, beetroots, lettuces, palak methi, beans, double beans, brinjal and so on. “So much amazing work and so many green champions and activists in HSR layout,” exclaims Sector 2 resident Shashidhara K. “We truly are a unique layout in all of Bangalore.”

Civic issues, anyone?

Contact BBMP joint engineer Ramesh if your area contractor isn’t doing his job despite repeated complaints. Call Ramesh at 99868-35425. For numbers of other civic utility providers and local politicians, refer to Page 32. For numbers of odd jobs providers like carpenters, plumbers, drivers, maids and so on, turn to Page 33. And if you would like to join a recreation club in HSR, even those are listed down on Page 33. Make the most of Residents Watch and fully live out your life.

The BBMP Grounds controversy

Only sporting activities can be held at the BBMP Grounds opposite Gyan Srishti school. If anyone asks you to pay up to conduct a sporting event, they are doing it illegally. Similarly, no permanent concrete structures can come up either with the help of local politicians or government officials as Sector 2 Residents Welfare Association has given several formal letters on the matter. That’s the only playing space available for HSR and it remains to be kept that way. No commercial ventures or concrete structures, please. When a proposal for a stadium was put forward by the BBMP to then BBMP administrator Vijay Bhaskar, he dismissed the idea and ordered for status quo to be maintained. And the residents want the same status quo to remain forever.

Practical ways to beat traffic

Sector 2 resident Lakshmi Srivatsan has practical tips that could help the management of traffic in HSR Layout. “The cops should work on traffic management rather than catching those riding without helmets. If people choose to put their lives at risk, it’s a choice they have made. Why waste tax payers’ money, especially deploying 3-4 cops to catch one guy while a traffic jam a few metres away is ignored. Citizens need to be educated on parking rules and driving on the left side of the road. We have big cars parked right in the middle of the road. Double and triple parking is rampant all over HSR. Towing away such vehicles on a regular basis is required. Cars are also parked in the corner of road turnings that make it difficult for vehicle users to navigate. We must educate citizens to make an imaginary circle while moving from one road to another and always stick to the left side of the road.”

For parking issues, Residents Watch urges its readers to use the Public Eye mobile app to penalise the offenders without getting into an argument with them. Residents like Sankar have reported several such issues and punished frequent offenders. Adds Sector 4 resident Fazal Khalil: “Some people park their vehicles on the roads outside houses and and don’t move out even when told. They leave the women and children of our houses highly insecure, and keep staring at them. On 15th Cross, cars are parked endlessly. This has to be stopped.” Similarly, TVS Kubera and Solar Automobiles are using up the footpaths in front of their shops on 19th Main. Will the BBMP and the traffic police act on these frequent offenders, please?

Footpath clearance should be top priority

The residents are not able to use the footpaths because of some obstruction or the other. Vijaylakshmi, the president of Sector 4 Residents Welfare Association says that the tree outgrowth forces walkers to use the road instead. RS Hiremath from Sector 2 says, “All the foot paths encroached by hawkers and shops need to be cleared. HSR does not even have 100 metres of footpath without some obstruction or encroachment.” Mumbai has mulled Rs 2000 fine on overnight parking on footpaths. Imagine that being implemented in Bangalore. We urge the BBMP and MLA Satish Reddy to conduct an intensive drive to take back the footpaths for pedestrian usage. It’s about time.

Daylight robberies in HSR

In Sector 3 recently, a thief entered a house at around 1.30pm. “The thief forcibly entered the house threatening the single lady in the house with knife and took away gold and cash,” reports Dr Kittur. “I request the police to intensify their rounds during the day and night to prevent such thefts.” Residents want the police to strictly implement the beat system to ensure the cops visit every street without fail.

Separate ducts for utility cables, please?

With frequent road cutting issues ruining roads and leading to water logging and potholes, the residents want the authorities to have one separate duct that is used by all utility agencies. This way, there won’t be separate ducts by every utility agency. Thereby, a common pole can be used for everything. Today, Airtel has erected over 185 poles in HSR Layout alone to keep their cable boxes. Imagine if every utility is permitted to erect poles. Then, our roads will be lined by poles and not trees. “There has to be a meeting called by elected representatives, including all the department officials and citizens,” says Sector 1 resident Kavitha Reddy. “Only then can we have clarity on road digging. We can agree to road cuttings for BWSSB emergencies but not all of the digging is for that. The roads being cut for building houses needs serious fines for violations. The building owner who does the road cutting has to re-install it properly if the civic agencies don’t as it does not cost much. All this can happen when we have a functioning ward committee as per the High Court order and regular coordination meetings between various civic agencies.” BBMP Commissioner Manjunatha Prasad did obey the High Court dictat. But not one of the 500 people who applied to become a member of the ward committees across the city was inducted into them. Such is the state of affairs in Bangalore today. So what happened? The local politicians got their ‘yes’ men inducted into the ward committees, making the entire exercise, futile.

Pig problem? Big problem

Pigs are all over HSR Layout, and particularly in Sector 2 and 3. Early this year, the pig contract was finally awarded to a contractor by the BBMP. However, residents cannot call the contractor directly. They will have to complain to the BBMP. With adequate police protection to ward off the pig mafia, the BBMP will get the contractor to execute his job. It has been more than four months and nothing has been done on this front so far. The good news is that residents in Somasundrapalya did see BBMP officials catching pigs in their area. They might soon turn their eyes on HSR.

Apartment installs aerators to minimise water wastage

The Mahaveer Seasons apartment folks in Sector 2 have installed 375 aerators in all their utility and wash-basins taps across 120 flats. By this, they intend to save atleast 50% of water. Looking at their success story, many more apartment blocks in and around HSR Layout are interested. If you are, contact Sector 3 resident Karunaprasad Kanavi at 94495-44742.