BENGALURU: For Bangalore Development Authority (BDA) flat owners at Gunjur, the pile of woes is mounting with the authorities asking them to cough up their power bills. During the last four years, a major chunk of the bill was borne by the contractor as he was able to provide only a temporary power connection which resulted in the bill amount coming to double the regular bill.
Compounding their plight is that two of three motors used to power the bore wells have conked off, and all the 644 flats are now dependent on a single motor, a resident told The New Indian Express, on condition of anonymity. The saving grace is that only 100 flats have been occupied due to lack of amenities. There are 84 3 BHKs, 168 2BHKs and 392 1BHKs that have been sold of a total of 868 flats.
“Due to the temporary connection in place here, the billing is done as per commercial tariff and touches nearly Rs 2.8 lakh per month. Residents used to mobilise upto Rs 1 lakh each month and the contracted agency Maverick Holdings and Investments Pvt Limited used to pay the remaining amount,” he explained. Some issues pertaining to bill payment have cropped up between the BDA and the contractor and no one was forthcoming about the matter, he added.
Another resident said that in the absence of Cauvery water, the residents were dependent on borewells. “The motor used for borewells in the block housing 3BHK flats and 1BHK flats have stopped working. We are dependent on the functional motor in just one borewell in 2BHK block,” another resident said. “It is not possible for us to mobilise the sum for its repairs due to a limited number of families,” another resident said.
Of the total length of the compound wall running to 300 m, nearly 40m is incomplete due to issues with a neighbour as well as a closed gate here, he said. A BDA engineer said that permanent power connection has reached up to the entrance of the apartment. “The cables are ready and the contractor needs to lay them internally,” he said. Engineers refused to give details on other issues while the BDA Commissioner failed to answer calls. Representatives of the contractor were unreachable.