With no amenities, life’s an everyday struggle here

BENGALURU: “This is a cursed layout. All of us who bought sites here are suffering,” said S R Gurumurthy, referring to Anjanapura Layout Further Extension. The businessman is among the 3,500 allottees who considered themselves lucky when they were allotted a Bangalore Development Authority (BDA) site when the layout was formed in 2002.

This extension comprises of Block 9, 10 and 11 with sites of various dimensions. Only 300 houses are built although it is has been 15 years since the sites were handed over.
An interaction with the allottees reveals a plethora of problems and they are seething with rage speaking about the issues they face. These are the key issues: Despite paying ‘betterment charges’ to the BDA at the time of purchase, the area still does not get Cauvery drinking water. Also, there is no underground drainage system in place. The roads are not tarred and there is no garbage collection system either. All this is despite the allottees paying the property taxes regularly.

“We have visited the BDA office as a group and also as individuals but met different commissioners. Lack of funds is cited as a reason,” Gurumurthy added. He had constructed a house on his 20x30 site in the 9th block and has paid `4,000 as property tax. “We connected the sanitary lines with that of a nearby private layout on our own. There is no sewage treatment plant and it is sad to see the waste flowing into Anjanapura lake and polluting it,” he said.

Gangaiah Alappa, manager in a multinational IT firm and a site owner in 11th block, says he has seen snakes in the area, including a cobra, due to many untended vacant sites and poor maintenance. He built his house here and occupied it in 2012. “It is BDA’s responsibility to ensure garbage collection. Garbage is never collected and is dumped on all the main roads here,” he says. There is poor street lighting too, he added.

He, however, lauded Energy Minister D K Shivakumar for ensuring water supply to the residents free of cost. “Every family gets three tankers free of cost each month. This has been provided to us for the last three years.”

An ex-service man K K Nanjunda has paid `2 lakh for his 30x40 feet site and spent an additional `10 lakh to build a two-storeyed house here. “There is no sanitation system in place in all the four blocks.”  
When asked about it, a top BDA official said the blocks under the further extension will get a sanitation network within eight to nine months. Tenders have been allotted for the same and BWSSB is working on it. He pointed out that Anjanapura Layout (Block 1 to 8) had all the facilities and only the extension suffered from infrastructure problems.

Another official said, “Most sites are bought by people who look at them as an investment only. They do not plan to reside there and so have not even built houses in the layout.” Even if BDA had provided infrastructure like water and sanitary pipes, they would have rusted by now, he claimed.