Kodigehalli suffers open drain's stench mosquito menace

BENGALURU: Kodigehalli ward in Bengaluru North is home to some high-profile residential schools.Sahakarnagar, one of the prominent residential areas of Bengaluru, falls within it. The MLA of the Assembly constituency Byatarayanapura too, works out of Kodigehalli. But this does not make it an ideal place to live in.

Ask residents of the Hebbal Sarovara Layout, which was formed nearly 15-years-ago as part of the Amco Layout. The stink emanating from an open rajakaluve (stormwater drain) has made life difficult for them for years. Recently, the Hebbal Sarovara Residents Welf are Association managed to convince the civic authorities not to connect sewage pipes to the SWD. But sewage from the nearby Badrappa Layout and Tata Nagar flows right into this, residents say. But the almost-stagnant water, thanks to the waste that is poured into it, makes the area smell of sewage and has caused health hazards because of mosquito breeding.

"Apart from the mosquito menace, the road along the SWD, which doesn't have a fence, has no streetlights.Authorities have no concern," said Kiran Kumar, a resident.

The approach road for the Amco Layout remains a dispute between civic authorities and defence personnel. As a result, an entire stretch of about one km is uneven, without an inch of asphalt. "In fact, when the civic authorities prepared to lay tar on the road, defence personnel erected pillars right in the middle of the road," a resident here pointed out.

Residents approached local Byatarayanapura MLA Krishna Byre Gowda, who has assured that the matter would be taken up.

Nagashettyhalli is a different story .Civic authorities have allowed a crater-like pothole right in the middle of its main road. "I've been here since 12 years, and this road has remained the same throughout," said a shopkeeper.