The Hindu : Karnataka / Bangalore News : A dark Ugadi for these residents

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Tuesday, Apr 08, 2008
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Karnataka

Karnataka - Bangalore

A dark Ugadi for these residents

Staff Reporter

— Photo: K. Gopinathan

Forced indoors: Workers digging up the road near Scion Harmony in Rahat Bagh, off Old Madras Road, in Banglaore.

Bangalore: Residents of Scion Harmony, an apartment complex in Rahat Bagh, off Old Madras Road, were forced to welcome Ugadi without electricity. Worse still, they could not take their vehicles out as the approach road was dug up without any prior notice by the workers of a private builder and developer on Sunday evening.

The power cable was cut on Sunday when the workers associated with the Samhita Constructions dug up the road to lay sewerage connection to a new apartment complex being built at the end of the road.

About 17 families staying in the Scion Harmony apartment had no other alternative but to leave their vehicles in the parking area and catch autorickshaws and cabs to visit friends and relatives on the occasion of Ugadi.

“A huge sound came from the transformer installed on the premises of our apartment when the power cable was cut and our lift got damaged owing to voltage variation,” said Mr. Chandan, who lives in one of the flats.

Residents also said that they only had this single approach road. While some of them could not take their vehicles out, others were forced to park at unsafe open areas away from the apartment on Sunday night.

Narrow road

The approach road to the apartment is only about 12 to 14 feet wide. Residents wondered how the authorities approved the new apartment complex (comprising at least 80 to 100 flats) being built by Samhita Constructions at the end of the narrow road on which two cars cannot pass each other at the same time.

When contacted, Prathap Kumar Reddy, proprietor of Samhita Constructions, said that he had informed the residents’ association that he would dig the road to lay new sewerage line as the old one was causing blockage. He also claimed that it was a private road and hence there was no need for him to take permission from the authorities.

However, the residents denied this. They said that while the officials of the Bangalore Electricity Supply Company inspected the area, the personnel of Bruhat Bangalore Mahanagara Palike’s control room, while registering the complaint, expressed their inability to send their staff immediately as it was a public holiday on Monday.

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