While that cheers up residents, they want cleaner streets and better health facilities.
Kengeri Railway station will be getting a new escalator in a month, and commuters said that they cannot wait for such a development.
An official of South Western Railway said, “The construction has started recently and will take about a month to complete. Other projects like constructing a storage space to keep materials are also being made.”
A commuter who was struggling to climb stairs with luggage said, “An escalator like the ones in metro stations would really help me.”
Apart from this, projects including the rejuvenation of Kengeri Lake are in progress in the constituency. Ramesh, contractor in-charge of the rejuvenation project said, “The work is going on and will be completed in two months. Also, the pipeline works are currently under progress but there is a shortage of labourers.”
Kengeri Railway Station is getting an escalator.
In addition to this, residents of Kumbalgodu also complained about the garbage that has been piling up for years. “Nothing is being done to clean the garbage that can be found everywhere in the vicinity,” said Saroja, a metro station security guard.
She added that the only big hospital with proper facilities is in Rajarajeshwari Nagar which is far from where she lives. “While there are primary health centers (PHC) nearby, they lack adequate facilities,” she said.
Narayanaswamy, an auto driver who lives in Kengeri said that, “There is no staff or equipment in the PHC in this area. If you have some serious health conditions like heart diseases or cancer, you cannot be cured in Kengeri.” He added that doctors in the area refer the patients to better hospitals that are far from Kengeri.
Poor condition of roads in Kengeri has also been troubling the residents. Puneeth owns a shop near Kengeri Metro Station and also works at a company in Mahatma Gandhi (MG) Road. He often travels from his home to the shop on bad roads.
“The roads other than the main roads are in a terrible condition and it takes longer than usual for me to reach the place,” he said.
Narayanaswamy said that the officials only work on places that are near metro stations and such areas. The other areas are overlooked and less developed.
He said, “If someone visits lesser-known places, you will see the real development. The roads are a mess and there is power cut for hours almost every day.”
Another concern for residents is the poor condition of government schools in the area. Both children of Narayanaswamy are studying in private schools because he thinks that if he sends them to government schools, they will not get jobs.
