Aravind Limbavalli, the MLA of Mahadevapura, may not have an easy time when he takes his election campaign to Kasavanahalli. The area which recently saw an illegal building collapse resulting in the death of five people is reeling under a plethora of problems. Having had enough, on March 10th, more than 1500 members of 28 RWAs who are part of the Kasavanahalli Development Forum, took out a silent protest and made 2 km long human chain against official apathy towards the various civic problems in the area that has even resulted in deaths as well.

It is a little difficult to believe that Kasavanahalli is part of Bengaluru, given how basic its problems are. Situated close to Sarjapur, it is home to a number of the people working in IT parks nearby and is a mix of upscale apartment complexes and impoverished shanties like many other areas in around it. It also connects Electronic City to ITPL and Wipro Campuses. Yet the area which became of part of the city when it expanded to 198 wards, has every problem in the book that an underdeveloped area would have – lack of underground drains, law and order, water, roads etc.

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Residents say that there have  already been two deaths because dengue and 2 pedestrians have been killed because of lack of footpaths in the area besides the five people who were crushed under the collapsed buildings. The lack of underground drains cause health hazards and the lack of adequate traffic police to man the stretch add to the miserable mix.

The residents have been trying to engage with the authorities for a while. Since the start of 2018, they have held consultations with the MLA and the area corporator Asha Suresh and the Deputy Commissioner of Police (traffic) to take stock of ground realities. But the residents say nothing has changed and all have to show for this are promises from both the political and bureaucratic class.

The residents say their demands are very basic because those are the issues that still plague the area. Fixing the infrastructure on the Kasavanahalli Main Road; developing arterial roads leading to Junnasandra to reduce congestion, fixing potholes, supply of water from BWSSB, traffic and parking management, police manning at key junctions, systematic garbage collection, fixing potholes that litter the roads in the area are all demands they have already placed with their elected representatives.