Protest against civic agencies

BANGALORE: The residents of BDA Layout in Neelasandra marched onto the streets on Saturday shouting slogans against the Bruhat Bangalore Mahanagara Palike (BBMP), Bangalore Water Supply and Sewerage Board (BWSSB) and Bangalore Electricity and Supply Company (BESCOM)  protesting against the lack of basic civic amenities in the area.The residents held placards condemning the city civic authorities for there alleged failure to clean the area, provide basic sanitation facilities and regular water supply to the houses.   The protest was organised by Austin Town BDA Layout Welfare Association."The drains just outside our houses have not been cleaned. The stench is unbearable,”  said Narmada Mani, a resident.Other residents stated that the area was not being cleaned properly with waste from the houses left to rot in the streets for days together attracting rodents and stray dogs. They also complained about the poor condition of roads  and the irregular supply of electricity. They alleged that BESCOM did not notify the timings of the power shut down and added that this was affecting the water supply as well. Maqbool, a resident, said that the corporator did not respond to their complaints.The residents staged the protest for an hour. Corporator Vijayan met the protesters and heard their grievances, to hear them out. Speaking to Express, Vijayan said that he had already arranged for Rs 40 lakh from the BBMP to help improve the civic amenities in the area.Despite lodging complaints with BWSSB, he said that there was no response from them. “We also have a shortage of workers. We need 250 workers but we have only 70,” he added.The corporator said that they had started laying the roads but that work had been stopped due to rains. The residents  decided to give the corporator 15 days to fix the problems in the area.