BENGALURU: Last December the Bangalore Development Authority (BDA) Commissioner G C Prakash assured those allotted flats at Gunjur that three new borewells would be sunk there. Nothing has come out of it four months down the line. The lockdown has turned out to be extra painful for nearly 150 families there in the absence of basic amenities. 

Located 3km from Varthur, the 560 1BHK, 168 2BHK and 68 3BHK flats have been allotted to owners right from 2012. Since then, there has been no permanent water or power connection here. For three days, they had no power. After repeated calls to the BDA, Bescom and people close to politicians, a transformer was installed on Thursday evening. However, one phase of power supply is operational presently and so lifts cannot be operated in any of the 23 seven-storey blocks.

B S Vaid, who lives on the seventh floor, says, “My wife Surinder Kaur is suffering from varicose problems and cannot alight or climb flights of stairs. She is 50 years old and cannot go out of the house. It feels as if we are inside a jail.” Janardhan Reddy, who resides on the second floor says, “We are in a critical position on the waterfront. The three borewells right now have very little water in them. Everyone is rationing water use.

Many have bought drinking water cans.” Another resident said, “Many take their buckets and go the borewell and try to scrape whatever water is available. It is awful if you are living on the upper floors as one needs to carry the water up.”The BDA Commissioner could not be reached for a response.