Hop skip and jump on 2nd Main, Domlur

The residents of 2nd Main Road, Domlur are seeking the authorities’ attention for the hassles that they are facing in their area. The drains of the street have been kept open from the past four months on grounds that the concrete work needs to be redone. Residents say that no work has taken place except for the desilting and cleaning.Captain Michael, a retired army officer,  who runs a grocery shop in the vicinity of the drain said, “The work on the drain started as early as February 2011. The open drain puts us in severe distress. There have been cases where elderly people have fallen into the drain injuring themselves. This affects my business as people need to cross the drain to reach the store. Officials who have been appointed for spraying the mosquito repellent come once in a blue moon.” He added that tubed mosquito repellents were the only solution they had against the mosquitoes and with a tube lasting only 15 days, they couldn’t afford them for long.The residents said that several complaints had been lodged with the authorities to no avail. Andrea, a resident of the area (on the condition of anonymity) said, “I have been living here for the past twenty years. Several people fall ill in a routine fashion due to the mosquito bites. The stench makes it difficult to eat our food. With the rains, our condition worsen. The drain water enters our house.” She added that the residents had to also bear the charges for the stone slabs that were placed over the drains.The area lacks parking space which leads to vehicles being parked on the roads leading to traffic jams. Vijay, an employee at a local juice centre added that the shop undergoes a loss of approximately 2,000 a day due to the stench emanating as the foul odour and the state of the drain drives their customers away. He said, “All that we residents can do is hope that something is done about the situation before it worsens.”City Express spoke to the local corporator of the area, Geetha Srinivasa Reddy. She said, “The drain has been cleared thrice. But the silt accumulates regularly. The delay in work is also due to the frequent rains.” She assured that she would look into the issue immediately and work would begin on Wednesday.