Slow traffic, shrunken lakes and garbage greet IT employees

Should employees of IT companies in Mahadevapura’s Special Economic Zone (SEZ) use public transport? What will it take to prevent encroachment of water bodies like the historic Pattandur Agrahara lake? When will waste from across the city stop getting dumped in this constituency? Why did the MLA not solve these problems during his past two terms? These are some of the concerns voiced by Mahadevapura residents.

Although this constituency with 4.7-lakh voters has emerged as a major IT and corporate hub, it continues to face what is called the ‘110 village syndrome’, according to the Million Voter Rising campaign conducted by citizen’s group Whitefield Rising. Various problems faced by the constituency were highlighted at an open forum organised for residents and candidates on Sunday.

Traffic management is clearly the top priority for both the incumbent MLA Aravind Limbavali and other contestants. “We have to extend the metro link, strengthen the suburban rail network, levy higher taxes on new vehicles and encourage carpool lanes,” said Limbavali, whose suggestion to create more elevated corridors was met with opposition as it would only lead to an increase in private vehicles on the road.


Lake pollution can be tackled by reestablishing links between tanks in the locality, said Bhaskar Prasad of the Aam Aadmi Party. “Have an integrated watershed management programme in place by referring to old maps of the region.”