Residents of JP Nagar organised a dharna to protest against the construction of Shobha Dew Flower Apartments, which they say could worsen traffic situation.
Not far from the brand new underpass at the junction of JP Nagar 15th Cross, 24th Main Road, which was thrown open to traffic on Tuesday, citizens of JP Nagar Phase-I organised a dharna and rasta roko on Sarakki Main Road.
Residents of the area were protesting against developments that could worsen traffic situation. They were opposing the construction of the Shobha Dew Flower Apartments, work on which had already begun.
The Shobha Developers’ project is set to add 231 three- or four-bedroom apartments to the area. The road in front of it is a narrow one, and if the residents of the apartment blocks also add their vehicles to those already plying here, traffic flow would soon be quite a mess, said president of the residents’ association of the area, N Ramachandran.
“The road is already choked during peak hours. Senior citizens and children suffer, as the roads are near-impossible to cross. A building of this size just does not belong here,” Ramachandran said.
Ever since construction began six months ago, people in the vicinity have been complaining of the dust.
“Complaints of wheezing, cough and fever have become common. We’ve been consulting doctors more often than we used to. There’s no break from the dust,” said Radhika Balaji, a resident of the neighbouring Vysya Bank Colony, who has been living in the area for 35 years.
There is also relentless noise from the construction site, and the neighbourhood cannot sleep in peace.
“The builders turn a deaf ear to our pleas,” said Ramprasad Reddy, a resident of Jayanti Garden Apartments. Trucks with construction material are too large for this narrow road; they pollute the air and threaten the safety of pedestrians.
“Under the rules, heavy vehicles are not permitted to enter a road of this width. The Sarakki Main Road is closed to trucks, but that doesn’t stop the builders’ vehicles. We wrote a letter to the additional commissioner of police (traffic) on November 3, 2010. The matter has still not been attended to,” said BR Udupa, secretary of the residents’ association.
There are allegations that the apartment block is coming up in violation of the building bylaws. “The road has to be at least 40-60ft wide for a building of this size. The project should not have been sanctioned, in the first place,” said Sundar Raj, president of JP Nagar residents’ welfare association.
The president and secretary of the association point out that under the 2003 bylaws of the Bruhat Bangalore Mahangara Palike, a group housing project of plot area exceeding 0.80 hectares should only come up beside a road of minimum width of 18 metres or 60 feet. The Sarakki Main Road is less than half the required width, at only 26 feet.
“The BBMP is considering widening the road, which is obviously a move to suit the needs of the apartment building project. We have been living here for years. We have built houses with small incomes, earned in the 1970s and 1980s. Now, they want to take it all away,” said Gayatri Ramesh, who has been living in the area for 22 years.
Area corporator B Samashekhar, however, stepped in to assure residents that the road would not be widened, and the problems of the residents would be attended to.
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