Problems plenty in this 'no problem' ward

BANGALORE: Officials at Ward 98 Ganganagar chant the "no problem" mantra all day. But the problems are there for all to see. While some work has been taken up this year, many civic issues such as side drain desilting, SWD choke-ups, garbage maintenance and conservancy road concreting have not got the attention they deserve.
Most works taken up this year are spillovers from last year''s budget —water, sanitary line installation at Dinnur and Muninanjappa Block, chip-carpeting in HMT Layout, Dinnur and Anjanappa Block.Of the 13 new works proposed in this year''s budget, only three have begun—desilting of drains and chip-carpeting in parts of the ward. But side drains in the bulk of the ward need to be reconstructed or cleaned and desilting work is yet to begin.
Officials say that slow progress of work is due to lack of approval from the BCC and no work orders being issued, like concreting of lanes in AK Colony slum. Everything will be completed by February, they promise.
The ward comprises Ganganagar, HMT Layout, Dinnur, Kausarnagar, Anjappa Block and Muninanjappa Block. Slums are Papanna slum, Ambedkar slum and two AK Colonies.
This ''old'' ward has been allotted Rs 42.50 lakh, as per the budget. It has also been allotted a special grant of Rs 1 crore for ward development works such as asphalting, health management and corporation building/park development.
As per the plan, 45 km of roads are to be asphalted and the areas targeted are Dinnur, HMT Layout, Muninanjappa Block, Venugopala Layout, Lakshmaiah Block, Ganganagar Extension and Papanna slum. Work has been completed only in some parts of Dinnur and HMT Layout. According to officials, work began just a month ago. At Judges Colony, roads need metalling and drains need maintenance.
Water and sanitary lines are only now being installed. Corporator Jayalakshmi said, "Connections will be given in a fortnight."
A stretch of 3.5 km of Storm Water Drain (SWD) in this ward, from Bellary Main Road to Anandnagar and from MLA Layout to Anandnagar, is a source of complaint. Residents say sewage choke-ups have not been solved and the SWD is a source of filth and stench. But officials say that desilting was done four months ago. The Dinnur Main Road SWD is filthy with sewage, but no action has been taken. Reason: "Files are waiting and we haven''t got approval for starting desilting work here. Perhaps we will desilt this drain in April," officials said.
Several garbage heaps can be spotted on Dinnur Main Road and in Ganganagar Extension. Ambedkar slum residents said, "Nobody comes to collect garbage here." They dump it all on vacant land at the end of the road.
Chip-carpeting, culverts and water and sewage line installation works are currently in progress at Muninanjappa Block, Dinnur, HMT Layout and Kausarnagar.