BENGALURU: Nearly 530 allottees of Bangalore Development Authority’s flats at Gunjur (near Marathalli) were supposed to be given possession of flats by December 2015. Though a year from that deadline has elapsed, there is no sign of completion of these projects.
The reason: Two contractors have abandoned the construction midway. BDA has terminated their contracts and is going in for fresh tenders. The allottees are despairing as money taken as bank loans for these flats is now blocked and they are paying interest every month.
According to BDA officials, Deepak Cables (India) Ltd was entrusted with construction of 616 1BHK flats at a cost of `65 crore while MSKR Infrastructure Pvt Ltd was contracted with construction of 196 2BHK and 84 3BHK flats at a cost of `45 crore. Of these 896 flats, 530 were allotted in 2013 and 2014.
“Both the contractors have abandoned the projects due to cash crunch. We have already paid them every month for a portion of the work completed,” an official said. The allottees, meanwhile, are waiting for the work to be completed.
Ramanand Hegde, who works in computer servicing, has been frequenting the BDA head office at Kumara Krupa West in search of a solution. “I am paying `7,000 as monthly interest on the `6 lakh I borrowed for purchasing my 1BHK flat, which cost `9 lakh. I have been told now that a new contractor will be called for and I can get my flat by August 2017,” he told Express.
A Kavitha, manager at a multinational firm, who resides at Lingarajapuram says her family is facing huge inconvenience because of the delay. “My office is just 4km from Gunjur and I was planning to relocate there in December 2016. I also planned to admit my two sons in the international schools there. All those plans have got derailed now,” she says.
Having taken a loan from a bank for her 3BHK flat that cost `24.29 lakh, she says the bank is benefiting from the interest on her money. “There must be some kind of compensation to be paid for the amount we are losing every month in repaying these loans,” she says.
Similar stories echoed from more allottees. A few of them alleged that BDA had not paid the contractor and so they left.
Denying these charges, a BDA official said, “During our board meeting in August, we terminated the contracts awarded as both have defaulted on the deadline and are not taking any efforts to complete the works. Deepak Cables has only completed work worth `22 crore, out of the `65 crore project given to them. MSKR has completed work worth `41 crore in the `45 crore contract,” he added.
BDA came out with a new tender for the 2BHK and 3BHK flats on December 1. Another tender for carrying out works at the 1BHK flats will be out soon. Officials gave an assurance that the 1BHK flats will be ready for occupation by August 2017 while 2BHK and 3BHK flats will be ready by April 2017.