Sampangiram Nagar ward: Close to power hub but lacking in basics

BENGALURU: The Sampangiram Nagar ward covers sprawling open spaces such as the Cubbon Park and High Court premises. It is also home to congested streets dealing with parking overload and overflowing sewage.

Covering the central business district, most streets in the ward are dotted with commercial establishments and offices, causing conflicts with residents.

“The streets get completely choked during peak hours all the way from Cunningham Road Junction to these lanes," said Dilip Sisodia, a resident of Plain Street, who runs jewellery business in Gandhinagar.




Infantry Road, which runs parallel to Bowring Hospital Road (commonly known as Hospital Road), became a "no parking" zone to ease traffic when Cubbon Road was blocked due to metro rail construction a few years ago. While this succeeding in easing traffic on Infantry Road, vehicle owners started parking their vehicles on smaller intersecting streets.

Slender sewage drain pipes cause frequent clogging in these areas."Every month, we have to dig up the roads to fix the lines. Nothing seems to stop it from overflowing. All the washed-down waste from hotels and stay homes massively clog the sewage pipes," said PS Gopinath, a resident of Devanga Samaja Road.

"I think they are from the British era," MS Sufiyan, secretary of Active Residents' Welfare Association and a resident of Hospital Road, said about the sewage pipes. "There are two hospitals on this road and patients are greeted by overflowing sewage."

Leave alone sewage, the roads here are often not cleaned properly, say residents. "The entire stretch of this road and other intersecting roads have to be swept by just two people. It is close to impossible," Sufiyan pointed out.Some commercial establishments in the area have resorted to dumping refuse in street corners.

P Sudarshan Kumar, a resident of Union Street, who runs an IT business, said, "Look at this road. It was laid dec ades ago. I haven't any memory of it being redone," pointing at a part of Hospital road. "In a few days, hundreds of physically handicapped persons will receive artificial limbs in an annual event conducted by the Jain Sangh here. How will they navigate this stretch?" he asked.