It was billed to be a paradise of sorts. The swanky enclave, the developer and the land owner had promised in their high-decibel campaign, would be a township within the city.
It was billed to be a paradise of sorts. The swanky enclave, the developer and the land owner had promised in their high-decibel campaign, would be a township within the city. But over a decade later, South City, the gated community on Bannerghatta Road, looks like a disaster zone with never-ending construction activity, high-rises developing cracks and craters pockmarking the terrain.
South City residents staged a protest, under the banner of South City Housing Apartment Owners Association (Sugruha) at Freedom Park on Friday, in protest against the developer and the land owner, Larsen & Toubro and Dinesh Ranka, respectively.
The residents said that they had been fighting to get whatever they had been promised since 1999 when the property was sold to them.
The elusive amenities include a park, playgrounds, walking tracks and a 60-ft road connecting the enclave to JP Nagar 24th Main. Besides, statutory requirements like rainwater harvesting and solid waste disposal too have not been implemented.
About 7,000 people reside in the enclave spread over 34 acres. Over 2,500 cars and 30 school buses ply in and out of the complex.
Sugruha vice-president, R Rajagopalan said that all publicity material about the enclave and the sale deeds registered in favour of the residents clearly stated that the USP of the project was that 25% of the land would be kept aside as open spaces —- park, playground and civic amenity site — reserved exclusively for the
residents.
However, the residents were later told that the promised park and a road within the enclave had been handed over to the Bangalore Development Authority. The park, for which the residents had paid their hard-earned money, was made into a public park, Sugruha said.
Work is still under way at the project, which should have been completed by 2005. Of the total promise of 19 blocks, 16 have been built, while two are pending completion and one has been shelved.
About Rs250 crore has been collected from the residents over the years under the head of maintenance costs, creating car parking facility and money to be paid to civic agencies, they said and added that no facilities, however, have been provided. No records of the expenditure too have been made available to the residents.
N Ravi, a retired foreign secretary and resident of the complex, said that a civic amenity centre promised by the builder too was yet to see the light of day.
One of the earliest residents to have moved into the enclave, Ravi said that when he purchased a flat paying Rs30 lakh in 1999, he had hopes of leading a peaceful life which, however, turned out to be short-lived.
Sugruha president, Abraham Kuruvilla said that a fortnight back, a 19-storey block developed cracks and till date L&T had failed to find the reason for the same.
Even as the residents were quivering in fear over dwelling in such flats, labourers were entering the houses on the guise of fixing the problem throwing up questions over the safety of women and children, he said.
A complaint has already been filed with the deputy commissioner in this regard but there has been no response till date.
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