Marathalli evolves into a bustling Bangalore suburb

From just being a group of five villages growing paddy around two of the oldest lakes, Varthur and Bellandur, Marathalli has evolved into a bustling suburb today. This place has become the axis leading to the IT corridors of the city—towards Whitefield and the Outer Ring Road on either side.

But this was not the scene even in the 1980s. The rapid development started in 1990 when the Outer Ring Road was being planned by the Bangalore Development Authority (BDA). Paddy fields started to disappear with modern-day infrastructure took their place.

“My grandfather settled here. We owned paddy fields around Varthurkere and Bellandurukere. There used to be one road going towards Whitefield. The villages were lush with vegetation. We had to give up our farms for the ORR,” said M Nagaraju, an old resident of Marathalli.Nagaraju said how water from Varthur and Bellandur lakes was used for cultivation and drinking in surrounding villages. These two lakes top the chart of 37 lakes in Bangalore which need attention to revive them.

A Raghunath, resident of Munekollal village of Marathalli-Varthur, explained how he saw the area grow. “Marathalli was never a part of the city during the 80s. Domlur and Usloor were the end points. When we were young, we would go to the HAL cinema and club and to the local Vinayaka theatre,” he said.

Raghunath is president of Veerappa Reddy Layout Site Owners Association. His father worked in HAL. “The first multi-screen theatre in Karnataka was set up here, Innovative Multiplex. Today there are about a lakh apartments coming up in the area,” he added.

This urban sprawl can be seen from the highrises coming up in and around Marathalli, Varthur, Munekollal, Basavanagar and HAL III Stage. Marathalli was the first area in Bangalore where people saw the concept of factory outlets. “Earlier we had to go to MG Road to shop, now people come here to get the best deals. Shoppers come here, shop, eat, watch movies and have a day-out here,” he said.

Commercialization is rampant here. Surrounding the flyover, a number of shopping arcades and malls are mushrooming. Hospitals such as Sankara Eye Hospital, Apollo Clinics and Sai Baba Hospital in Whitefield, and schools in Varthur, Whitefield and Sarjapura have made living easy here.

Marathalli has also become a cosmopolitan zone with a culturally diversified people staying together. Earlier these places had a huge population of Reddys and now there are Bengalis, Oriyas, Assamese, Gujaratis, Delhiites, Hariyanivis and Andhraites staying harmoniously with each other.“Earlier there used to be one Durga Puja celebration in the entire area,now there are three to four Puja celebrations in Marathalli alone,”said Digvijay Narayan Singh,resident, Rajashri Layout and owner of Oceanic Minds Intellect Pvt Ltd.

 

Singh shifted to Marathalli seven years ago and feels the place is peaceful and culturally good. “A number of people want to build schools here because parents are ready to pay more to get their children admitted to popular schools,” he added.

With the area growing rapidly, BMTC runs more than 500 buses and more than half of its Volvos.