Inching towards its August 15 deadline, the Bruhat Bengaluru Mahanagara Palike (BBMP) is leaving no stone unturned in meeting its target of setting up 125 Indira Canteens. So far, it has managed to complete 40.
The palike plans to look into location problems and other issues that have plagued some of the canteens post-Independence Day.
N. Manjunath Prasad, Commissioner, BBMP, has said that overall, around 70 canteens will be completed in the next few days. “Work has been completed on 40 canteens so far. In two to three days, another 30 to 40 will be completed. All focus now is on getting 125 canteens ready before August 15,” he said.
Chief Minister Siddaramaiah had recently revised the target to opening 125 canteens on August 15 and the remaining 73 on October 2 (Gandhi Jayanthi) after chances of establishing 198 Indira Canteens by Independence Day began to look increasingly bleak.
Land availability
With the work on some canteens having run into trouble owing to opposition for various reasons – from the loss of trees to the canteens coming up on playgrounds – Mr. Prasad said alternative locations would be scouted for. “There is no problem for 135 canteens as land has been identified and handed over for work. In around 25 locations, issues have arisen. Wherever there is a confrontation, we have stopped work. We will look for alternative government land in the same wards. If there is absolutely no alternative available, we will look for private land as a last resort,” the commissioner said.
On Thursday, the BBMP and the State government had given an undertaking to the High Court of Karnataka that Indira Canteens will not be constructed on notified parks, playgrounds and open spaces in violation of Section 8 of the Karnataka Parks, Play-fields and Open Spaces (Preservation and Regulation) Act, 1985.
Close proximity
Another problem that has cropped up in the way of the government’s ambitious project is of the canteens being too close to each other in some wards. For example, the canteen near Mahaveer Jain Hospital in Vasanthnagar is very close to the one near the Cantonment Railway Station, which falls under the Jayamahal ward.
However, the Commissioner said this was because they were the only locations available, though they were technically in two different wards that were close to each other. “Local councillors and engineers have also taken into account the floating population before deciding on the venue,” he added.
Vasanthnagar councillor S. Sampath Kumar said both canteens would see enough people as they would offer good quality food at highly subsidised rates. “There are many hotels on the same street and yet they get their share of customers. So there is no problem,” he said.
