BDA flooded with complaints from unhappy flat owners

Residents want it to maintain apartments & pay for water, power

The Bangalore Development Authority (BDA) is flooded with complaints from people who bought flats in its apartment blocks on Mysuru Road, west Bengaluru. With no supply of Cauvery water, homeowners want the agency to pay for water tankers.

Homeowners in Valagerahalli and Malagala have complained to the BDA about poor upkeep of the apartment complexes. “We recently moved into a two-bedroom flat in Valagerahalli phase 2. It is a BDA flat and they should maintain it. There are no proper facilities in this area and the BDA is not helping us,” said Sathyanarayan, a resident.

Mamathamma, who bought a flat in Valagerahalli phase 4, has a similar grouse. She said the BDA officials had helped residents in other areas, but did not pay attention to problems in her apartment complex. “This is unfair. It is not possible to pay for water every month as there is no Cauvery connection,” she said.

The BDA’s engineering and public relations sections have been flooded with complaints for the past few weeks. A senior BDA official, however, said they had stopped entertaining the complaints. “It is contagious, if we help one, we will have to help everybody. So we stopped taking complaints,” the official told Deccan Herald.

“People want the BDA to pay their electricity bill for three months as well as water charges. But they do not understand that when one moves into a new home, electricity bill comes only after first three months and the amount is usually on the higher side. Water pumping and tanker charges depend on usage. Residents have to pay up on their own.”

In 2015, the BDA had entertained similar complaints by paying electricity bills of common areas and water pumping charges in some of its apartment complexes. But it did not pay the bills of individual residents. The exception was in Nandini Layout whereby it paid Rs 2 lakh to clear utility bills of individual units following government intervention.

“Residents should have their own apartment committees to solve problems like in private apartment complexes. The job of the BDA is to construct apartment complexes and sell them to people. Maintenance is the residents’ responsibility,” the official said.