Bengaluru's Aramane Nagar loses royal touch as construction and commercialisation take a toll

BENGALURU: Aramane Nagar, the ward that is home to the royal palace and grounds of the erstwhile Mysuru kings and hence gets its name is not as pristine as it once was. Construction and commercialisation have taken a toll on its old roads and footpaths.

Sadashiva Nagar, a neighbourhood carved out of the former royal gardens, is no exception. This entire place used to be so calm. Commercialisation has hit even these areas and there is traffic and pollution now,said Priya S, who interns at the Indian Institute of Science. In fact, residents around Sankey Tank have been fighting against a 14-storey construction adjacent to the tank.

Construction debris, sand and gravel taking up footpaths is a common site here. If you walk down the fourth main road, you can see that garbage and other junk is dumped on the sidewalks. They are not pedestrian friendly, said Vilokana N, a resident.Further, on Sankey Road, those riding two-wheelers jump on the sidewalk to beat the traffic. It angers me as a pedestrian,she added.While most parts of this area are looked after well, some suffer total neglect. The eighth main road that runs up to Sankey Tank is ridden with potholes, said Sneha B, a resident who uses it every day . A few corners have become unofficial garbage dumps, she points out.

Road and footpaths narrow down and get uneven in MS Ramaiah Nagar. Mallikarjun, a resident, said: Transformers and electric cables running dangerously close to houses and drawn across the streets in a haphazard manner is a matter of serious concern. A few weeks ago, they dug up the roads to connect the waterline to every house. In a lot of places, the roads are still not fixed after that, aid Jagannath S, a retired engineer in ITI Layout. Srinivas Gopal, a business consultant from ITI Layout, said the worsening traffic situation on the New BEL Road has affected everyone schedules during peak office hours.