Bengaluru: It has just come to light that the compound wall around the Bangalore Development Authority's Housing Project at Alur has collapsed at two locations due to the heavy rains last week. A two-wheeler in the designated parking space too got severely damaged and the helpless owner was told that BDA could not be held responsible for it. Residents plan to meet BDA Commissioner Rajesh Gowda shortly to highlight their woes.
A total of 452 houses (1BHK, 2BHK and 3BHK) form part of this housing project which was handed over to owners in 2016. As on date, 250 houses are occupied by owners or tenants.
Alur BDA Phase-2 Owners Welfare Association Secretary Sashidhara Giraddi told TNIE, "The incident has shocked us and we are worried about the quality of the overall work done here. The wall near the 2BHK flats and the 3 BHK flats collapsed on May 18 night. We alerted BDA the next day but the concerned engineer came, examined it, and left. With no efforts taken to set it right by the Authority, we have now decided to escalate it soon."
It was the Honda Activa of B L Umesh, a Public Relations Inspector at the General Post Office and the owner of a 3BHK flat (B1-04), that got partially smashed due to the wall collapse. Umesh has spent more than Rs 6,000 to set right his vehicle which had the front lamps, handle and mirror damaged and had to change the body casing of the vehicle. "I had parked it only in the space earmarked for my vehicle. When I approached Assistant Executive Engineer Prabulinga for help, he told me to collect the damages from the vehicle insurance company as BDA does not compensate in such cases."
Prabulinga blamed the whole episode on the unprecedented rains. "Only one vehicle got damaged. Two segments of the compound wall running to 25 metres and 10 metres have borne the brunt due to the pressure of the water falling. It rained upto 15cm on Tuesday night." Asked about the action taken he said he had already informed the contractor, Gowri Constructions, to repair the wall. "Work on it will begin as soon as rains stop completely. I will also tell him to compensate the vehicle owner," he added.
Caption: Heavy rains brought down the compound wall at BDA's Alur housing project. Restoration work not taken up yet and the debris still lies there. One vehicle was damaged.