[sustran] Re: Footpath gone to the " Dogs"

[Kanthi Kannan]

Dear all

 

Not sure if this has been sent earlier. A tale that is sad at the same time
totally Indian and probably humorous too

 

 

http://epaper.timesofindia.com/Default/Scripting/ArticleWin.asp?From=Archive
<http://epaper.timesofindia.com/Default/Scripting/ArticleWin.asp?From=Archiv
e&Source=Page&Skin=MIRRORNEW&BaseHref=BGMIR/2011/08/15&PageLabel=6&EntityId=
Ar00600&ViewMode=HTML>
&Source=Page&Skin=MIRRORNEW&BaseHref=BGMIR/2011/08/15&PageLabel=6&EntityId=A
r00600&ViewMode=HTML

 

Thanks to Mahesh for sending me the link

 

Kanthi

 

A footpath in RMV II Stage has gone to the dogs and the credit for that goes
to Ashok Haranahalli, former advocate general of Karnataka. Until last week,
he was the state's chief advocate and advisor on all things legal. Of
course, the footpath outside his house is another matter. 
    Footpath space measuring about 8ft x 20ft, in front of house number 588
on I Main, III Block of the area, is now a "kennel" for two Labrador dogs. A
Bangalore Mirror reader sent us pictures of the illegal construction which
blocks the footpath, forcing pedestrians to walk on the road. 
    Naturally, local residents are livid. "Thoughtless residents who can be
presumed to be educated upper class hardly seem to care. In spite of
repeated complaints, they neither care for the laws of civil society nor for
the welfare of other residents. What are the civic and health authorities
doing? They cannot allow the selfishness of a few to override and jeopardise
the greater good of the many. What is shocking is that these huge dogs are
generally left loose. I would be very concerned about personal safety in
these days of lawlessness and goondaism of the high and mighty," said a
local resident, who had complained earlier. But the complaints have gone
unheeded. 
NO ENCROACHMENT 
When contacted, the learned Haranahalli said, "I have not encroached the
footpath. In fact, there is a small drain in the front of the house near
which I planted some trees. To safeguard them, I put up steel barricades
touching my building wall. It was constructed 10 years ago and no one has
had any problem with it. Only one resident complained and I informed her
that it would be removed." 
WHAT'S WRONG? 
Haranahalli also says he is not the only one to be using the pavement for a
purpose other than walking. "Everyone in the locality has developed a garden
or some other thing on the pavement. But no one is asking them. This
complaint has come just because I have kept my two dogs which safeguard the
house. Many times, walkers passing here pause to talk to my dogs. They have
not created any nuisance. They only bark sometimes, when they are
distracted," Haranahalli added. 
OFFICIAL TAKE 

Reacting to the roadside kennels, BBMP's Hebbal sub-division executive
engineer Vijay Kumar said, "This has not come to my notice. But if someone
has encroached the footpath, then it has to be removed. I will check the
matter and see that this encroachment is removed."