BDA resumes work, residents protest

Angry at BDA going back on its word, about 40 residents protested the flyover construction at Koramangala 80 feet junction in 1st block on November 7th. BDA had earlier agreed to stop the works until a consensus was reached. The protest began at around 9 in the morning and went on for about two hours.

The residents have been protesting over the last month demanding BDA to stop the flyover construction. Residents had met top BDA, BBMP officials, and given petitions to elected representatives over the past month.

40 residents staged a 2-hour protest on Monday. Pic Courtesty: N R Suresh, Namma Bengaluru

But BDA resumed some works at 80 feet junction and Jakkasandra junction last week without informing the residents. BDA engineers in HSR Layout were supposed to hold a meeting with residents on November 5th to re-consider the plan for the signal free corridor. BDA PRO Dr K Puttaswamy had confirmed to Citizen Matters on November 4th that the meeting would be held, but this did not happen either.

"We did not get any response on trying to contact the BDA," says Vijayan Menon, member of the citizens’ group Koramangala Initiative, who had participated in the protest. During the protest, Jakkasandra corporator Saraswathamma assured residents that works would not start till Wednesday. Residents are planning to meet Executive Engineer B Nagendra, who is in charge of the project, at BDA Head office on November 8th.

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About Navya P K 317 Articles
Navya has 12 years of experience in journalism, covering development, urban governance and environment. She was earlier Senior Journalist, Citizen Matters, and Reporter, The New Indian Express. She has also freelanced for publications such as The News Minute, Factor Daily and India Together. Navya won the All India Environment Journalism Award, 2013, for her investigative series on the environmental violations of an upcoming SEZ in Bengaluru, published in Citizen Matters. She also won the PII-UNICEF fellowship in 2016 to report on child rights in Kerala and Tamil Nadu. Navya has an MA in Political Studies from Jawaharlal Nehru University, and a PG Diploma from the Asian College of Journalism.