BENGALURU: Alleging that the Bangalore Water Supply and Sewerage Board (BWSSB) has given Cauvery water connection to layouts without levying any infrastructural charges, while simultaneously demanding Rs 2.3 crore to provide the same connection to Royal Lakefront Residents (RLF) of JP Nagar 8th Phase, apartment dwellers have decided not to cast their votes in the upcoming Lok Sabha elections.
Sharing their problem in a letter addressed to the Chief Electoral Officer on April 10, the Royal Lakefront Residency Residents’ and Site Owners Welfare Association stated that they are going to boycott the upcoming LS elections, registering their protest against the alleged apathy of the water board.
“BWSSB provides residents of revenue and ‘B-Khata’ layouts without levying any infrastructure charges, including the places around Royal Lakefront Residency. RLF layout also has common infrastructure like parks which are used by people around us.
"We came to know that the BDA-approved layouts---BCMC Layout in Raghuvanahalli, Narayana Nagar Phase 1 and Phase 2, Doddakallasandra, Balaji Layout, Vajarahalli, BDA employees layout, Doddakallasandra and BCC HS Layout, Vajarahalli are enjoying the BWSSB water and underground drainage (UGD) connections to their layout without paying any infrastructure charges and by paying only connection charges to individual houses,” the association stated in the letter.
We have a UGD facility and community water supply through borewell water services in the locality. However, the borewell has gone dry and we are depending on private water tankers paying high rates, the association members said.
The residents said they have been trying to get a BWSSB water connection for the last 20 years. RLF residents through our association have been working with BWSSB for Cauvery water connection and we were told to pay, Rs 1.3 crore for Phase 1, and Rs 1.04 crore for Phase 2, they said.
They complained that they were neglected by the BWSSB authorities for not considering their requests and appealed to provide a water connection. The residents said they have decided not only to boycott the upcoming LS polls but also subsequent elections in future.