Save Whitefield: Protests mark pity for Bengaluru's tech hub

"I paid my tax...I voted... still got cheated. I live in Whitefield." This was one message among scores which residents of Whitefield, Bengaluru's nerve centre for technology companies and workers, gave out Monday. An estimated 8,000 people gathered for the #SaveWhitefield protest against lack of basic infrastructure.

Dressed in black, residents gathered at Marathahalli bridge, Hoodi, Forum Value Mall, Nallurhalli, KTPO and Graphite India junction before heading to the ITPB. "We pay Rs 28,000 crore in taxes but get potholed roads and frothing lakes in return. Our next move will be no-roads-no tax from January 1," urban expert and activist RK Misra said.

Mayor BN Manjunath Reddy, who told ET that the protest was justified, assured that several projects for the area had been approved while some others were in the tendering process. "We have two packages: one worth Rs 350 crore and another worth `650 crore. Of this, works worth `100 crore are in Mahadevapura and KR Puram constituencies.Due to recent rains, the approved works have slowed down. Our intention is not to cause inconvenience to taxpaying residents.I will try to expedite the works," the Mayor said.