BANGALORE: Ulsoor Lake, the much preferred destination for hundreds of joggers, is losing its importance gradually. Residents of Ulsoor, Murphy Town, Shivanchetty Garden, Cox Town and even Frazer Town have been visiting this lake bund for a walk in the morning and evening hours. Now, the foul odour that the lake gives out and the rotting remains of the Ganesh and Durga idols are driving away people from the lake.If the colossal negligence of Bruhat Bangalore Mahanagara Palike (BBMP) about the heaps of garbage at the immersion pond is of any indication, the day is not far away when the residents of Bangalore will forget the very existence of the civic body. For example, the BBMP ward office is situated a few metres away and the officials concerned are aware of the nuisance of garbage at the immersion pond but nothing has been done. “I have been visiting this park for the last 25 years. This is the first time that the BBMP authorities have forgotten their responsibility to clear the garbage,’’ says A Varadaraju who lives in Shivanchetty Garden. Many people complain about the unhygienic condition prevailing near the immersion pond. “We come here for good health but parthenium weeds cause health problems for us,’’ says C Mukundan from Cox Town. A few people came down heavily on the BBMP for its apathy towards Ulsoor Lake. They demand the civic authority to take measures to develop the pathway on the lake bund. “We had organised a protest two years ago demanding the BBMP to take up immediate measures to keep the lake clean. The authorities had promised to do the needful but failed to honour their promise. They maintain Sankey Tank very, but they are neglecting Ulsoor Lake. We are planning to organise a similar protest shortly,’’ said N S Ravi, a resident of Doddigunta.The delay in opening a public toilet speaks about the negligence of authorities concerned. The pathway is also not senior-citizen friendly. “The BBMP authorities have to clear the garbage as early as possible. Stray dogs’ menace is intolerable here. The authorities need to take necessary action to control the dog population here,’’ opines Arpitha Singh from Old Madras Road.They allege that it has become a habit for BBMP Commissioner Siddaiah to announce one or two crore rupees for the development of this lake whenever he happened to visit here..“I do not know why the Commissioner wants to spend crores of rupees to clear the garbage and strengthening the pathway. I think the funds are being misused,’’ said Pradeep Kumar Reddy, former corporator. However, the assistant executive engineer blames the organisers of various Ganesha and Durga festivals for the mess. “The problem with the Ganesha festival organiers is that they continue to immerse idols even after the BBMP’s deadline of 10 days. The number of Durga idols is more this year compared to last year,’’ said B V Chandrasekhar, assistant executive engineer, BBMP. Meanwhile, R Udayakumar, corporator of Halasoor Ward, has promised to take measures to clear the garbage at the immersion pond. “I will visit the lake tomorrow and see that the pond is from garbage,’’ said Udayakumar.
Comments
0 comment