Residents of Cambridge Layout are disheartened that the road to their homes stinks and swarms with flies. Ironically, the BBMP authorities took away dustbins, forcing people to dump garbage on the road.
“There was a dustbin here before. About a year ago, it was taken away. But people continued to dump garbage. Now three-fourth of the road is covered in garbage,” said M Narayanan, a resident near whose house the garbage has been dumped.
Vehicles coming from the Ulsoor police station prefer to take the nearest parallel road to enter Jogupalya. But for many, especially schoolchildren of St Anne’s School, the daily walk to the school and back is an ordeal as they have to walk through the garbage, literally, to reach their destination.
Adding to their woes are stray dogs that have turned the spot into a regular feeding site. “It is dangerous to have so many dogs around, especially stray dogs. These are uncared for dogs, living on the streets. They howl at night and refuse to let people sleep. This is a residential area with a lot of children and we have to be constantly on the watch,” said another resident.
Sometime ago, the road was even dug up to be widened, said Narayanan, but the work was not completed. “The road is about 60-feet wide. But about 20-feet cannot be used and people park their cars there. If it is well maintained and asphalted, it can be a main road to reach Jogupalya,” he said.
When contacted, councillor Gowtham Kumar assured the road would be in a better state in the next few months. “The garbage is cleared twice a day. Once the work to widen the road begins, people will not dump garbage here,” he said. When asked why the road widening work has been delayed, he said the delay was caused due to the presence of three mutton stalls.
“These were demolished three days ago. The road widening will begin in another three days,” he said.
