There was a time when people of Banashankari second stage in South Bengaluru had it all : adequate water supply, good roads, satisfactory garbage collection and few traffic problems. Living here was a pleasure for most as they never had to deal with problems so common to other parts of the city. But over the last year things began to change and now living in ITI Layout has become a nightmare, says Mr K. Vageesh, who has lived here for the last two decades and cannot understand how the area could have gone downhill so quickly.
As malls and shops began to take up space in the residential locality , the peace of Banashankari, once a serene area with temples and parks, was destroyed forever. The traffic grew alarmingly, so much so that today it has become difficult for senior citizens and children to walk on the roads, complain the people.
To add to the problems water supply has been hit for the last three months in the area after the BWSSB dug up Temple Street in ITI layout to replace sanitary pipes. In view of the pending work, some people on the street cannot take out their cars from their garages and in the absence of water residents are being forced to depend on borewells or tanker water, rues Mr Vageesh. “Although rain water harvesting has been made mandatory by the BBMP , hardly anybody seems to care and this is taking a heavy toll on the groundwater table. Some officers are even helping residents show rain water harvesting structures on paper without really going in for it,” he complains, lamenting that Banashankari is no longer what is used to be in the past.