BENGALURU: In an effort to avoid being plunged into darkness, 106 flat owners from the Mantri Serenity apartments on Doddakallasandra Road have filed a complaint at the Subramanyapura police station against Vista Castle Private Limited, a unit of the Mantri Group.
This action follows a temporary power supply disconnection by BESCOM on Saturday afternoon, which lasted for four hours.
The power was restored after BESCOM issued an ultimatum that the supply would be disconnected again on Monday morning.
The 27-storey apartment complex houses 1,500 families across 17 blocks and has been struggling with temporary power supply issues for nearly two years.
R. Ramanujam, speaking on behalf of the owners, said, “All the affected flat owners and two members of the association have signed the complaint. When we moved into the flats nearly two years ago, we were promised a permanent power supply (Low Tension domestic power), but we have only received temporary supply.”
Although the developer paid the power bills, BESCOM has repeatedly issued notices for a permanent power connection, which have been ignored. “On Saturday, the 17 blocks were plunged into darkness. Four blocks were unaffected. BESCOM disconnected the power by 2 p.m. on July 19 and restored it by 6:30 p.m. We were warned that disconnection would occur again within 60 hours. Hence, we are forced to take this step,” he said.
An agency outsourced by Vista, Propcare Real Estate Management Private Limited, has been paying the power bills regularly to BESCOM, so pending bills are not an issue.
Ramanujam elaborated on the disadvantages of the temporary power supply: “It is quite erratic. The lifts operate intermittently, and there have been instances where senior citizens were stuck inside lifts for 30 to 45 minutes, endangering their lives. We are living in constant fear, and a solution is urgently needed.”
Attempts to reach the Mantri Group’s owners and representatives for comment on the issue have been unsuccessful. A scheduled appointment with a representative had to be canceled due to an emergency, and subsequent attempts to arrange meetings were also unresponsive.
The flat owners also staged a protest at the marketing office of Mantri Serenity inside the premises, forcing it to close on Sunday evening. The office had been actively selling flats to the public.