Some took a day off from work, and a few others worked around their job timings, all for one cause. Some were residents, some others employees of firms located in and around Whitefield. And they all had one thing to say: they were tired of suffering and complaining.
The massive protest planned by people living and working in and around the bustling Whitefield area gathered early on Monday at seven locations in a bid to “Save Whitefield.” At the Marathahalli bridge, one such assembling point, most of them dressed in black, they stood undeterred under the sun as traffic continued to pile up on the other side of the road while vehicles whizzing past them engulfed them in dust.
“I think I spend one-eighth of my time on the road. It doesn't make any sense. And it's not like it cannot be made better,” said Monika Sharma, before marching off towards ITPL with the remaining protesters. A native of Patna, she has been living in Kadugodi for the past three years, travelling to Sarjapur Road for work each day. “I take the bus and it takes me no less than an hour and a half even if I leave at 6.30 am,” she said, asking us to spare a thought for the school children who put up with the same problem each day.
Sridhar Rao V, a resident of Whitefield for the last 12 years, sought to know from the civic authorities and the government why the spurt in growth was being permitted when there was no infrastructure to match the growth. “Apartment residents or builders are arranging for water and sewage facilities themselves, sometimes even laying the roads,” he said.
The nearly half day protest, which the organisers claim saw nearly 10,000 participants, culminated at the ITPB to where the protesters either marched or boarded buses from the seven locations. Before dispersing at 1 pm, they hoped only for one thing, as IT firm owner Abhijeet Nath put it: "We hope this at least shakes up the government a bit to do something."
