Slow UGD Work in Front of Bellissima Apartments Creates Hardship for Residents to Move in & Out

Slow Under Ground Drainage (UGD) Work by Mangaluru City Corporation or Mangaluru smart City Ltd (MSCL) in Front of Bellissima Apartments, near Lions Seva Mandir, Mallikatta-creates Hardship for Residents to Move in & Out, especially senior citizens, ever since the work started four months ago

Mangaluru : I have said it in the past and will say it again that “One thing for sure, that you’ll all agree with me is that-Digging of roads/streets/bye-lanes/and for drainage work will never stop in Mangaluru no matter what- and we have seen it and will see in future too. Without proper planning new roads are constructed, and after a while the new roads are dug to lay cables- and side of roads dug up for drainage work- and this is the present case where almost the entire City is in a mess with all the development work, and these works are started together, and the bad part is ALL of them are left incomplete (almost in many areas?)- since workers are shifted from doing one project, to another.

And the best part is that, both MCC and MSCL play blame games, like, MCC says the work is done by MSCL, while ask the officials of MSCL, they put the delay of work on MCC- and between all this nataka aka drama, the citizens and residents of Bellissima apartments face the brunt of this shabby, hazardous and incomplete work. Why does it take over four months to complete a small project of UGD, ask residents- and no one is getting a right answer, and in the meantime, they all have to face the hardship and inconveniences commuting around the messy incomplete work. And now since it has been raining, the red mud scattered all over the area has made it much worse.

As of today, it’s still a mess out there, and traffic and pedestrians are facing the brunt of it. Not only at this spot, the digging work can be seen across the City, and pedestrians are having a tough time to walk on the footpaths or cross the roads, while the motorists are facing all kinds of inconveniences of closed roads, temporary one-way streets, barricades etc etc. There are interlock bricks scattered all over and dug up mud is blocking pedestrians movement. This project near Bellissima apt has put the residents into hardship and inconveniences, while moving around this incomplete project. Few days ago a child slipped and fell into the open ditch, due to the slush, while running to catch the auto-rickshaw, but luckily she was safe, with slight bruises. Such accidents do happen, when city officials are careless and negligent in their work, showing no concern to people and their safety. Sometimes, it seems like the MCC/MSCL officials are waiting for casualty/fatality to take place, and probably only then they will start the work again and finish it. Bah humbug!

The area around the apt and Lions Seva Mandir is in total mess-with piles of mud, rocks, and what not scattered all around- and commuters and motorists are facing the brunt of it. God only knows when the work will be completed, and the mess cleared. But does anyone from MSCL/MCC care about the safety of the Citizens, being Smart Officials of Smart City? Until all the city development works undertaken by MCC or Mangaluru Smarty City Ltd is fully completed, pedestrians and motorists have to bear with all these inconveniences and also there would be traffic snarls which will be an added nightmare. But why are all these drainage works taken up together? Though this question sounds jocular and funny it is rather a serious one !

The reason, perhaps no one in Mangaluru is fully aware of which roads are/will be dug and for what reason-Saying so from my observation for months and years. There is no one to take the complete responsibility of digging up the roads. Instead of fully completing a work at one place first, they jump to another project, leaving the earlier project incomplete for a while or could be never? Seems like in this Smart City with Smart Engineers and Contractors they can do anything anytime, nobody has guts to question them. One thing for sure, digging never stops in Mangaluru, every now and then. First it was for optic cables,then it was for water pipes, then sewage/drainage, then MESCOM, etc

Loius Lobo, a resident of Bellissima Apt speaking to Team Mangalorean said, “It doesn’t make any sense why it takes such a long time to finish a small UGD project, which has taken over four months, putting us all into inconveniences. It’s hazardous to move around the incomplete project, with all the slush, construction debris etc, especially for the seniors. Our complaints and constant reminders to the City officials and contractors to complete the work soon, are all in vain. Few of the residents are reluctant to go out, fearing that they could slip and fall in the slush, red mud . We only hope and pray that this work gets completed soon, before one of us gets hurt or ??”

While feeling sorry for the residents of Bellissima apartments, such issues are not new in this Smart City, which has gone Smart-less? . It has been a trend for decades. With no accountability of any sort , anybody with political clout and money to bribe, can dig a road with no questions asked. And now with drainage and road reconstruction works going on, moving around the City has become a nightmare- and it will be a long…long time, before this City gets back to its normalcy. And this report is for the kind perusal of , either of Managing Director of MSCL- Mohammed Nazeer, and General Manager (Tech) of MSCL- Er Arun Prabha, if it’s their work, (if not, sorry)- and if the project belongs to MCC, then MCC Commissioner Akshy Sridhar, MCC Mayor Diwarkar Pandeshwar, and area ward corporator Manohar shetty- Where we humbly make a request to complete the work before someone gets hurt or faces death.

Once in a while, MSCL/MCC officials need to step out of their air conditioned office cabins, and inspect/supervise the ongoing City projects- if not, we will be looking at delayed work or incomplete work, left fully under the contractors and laborers. Hoping for the best, in anticipation I remain thanking the concerned officials of MSCL/MCC!