Bangalore, November 23: The EWS Residents’ Welfare Association has urged the government to expedite the construction of houses for the economically weaker sections at Ejipura Colony here. The association represents 1,512 families that are waiting for their houses to be built since the time their houses collapsed a few years ago.
Addressing presspersons here on Saturday, S.N. Raju, president of the EWS Residents’ Welfare Association, said that the government handed over the land to Maverick Holdings and Investments Pvt. Ltd. to construct the houses for them but the work is yet to start.
Under the public-private partnership model, Maverick Holdings has to construct multistoried flats for the 1,512 EWS families in exchange of half the land in the colony on which it can build a mall. “It has been more than a year since Maverick was handed over the land. They have not started work on the construction even now,” said S.N. Raju.Mr. Raju said that the builder, the BBMP and the BDA have been making them run from pillar to post. “When we ask the builder why there has been no progress in construction of houses, he blames the BBMP. The BBMP officials blame the BDA. And the BDA in turn asks us to approach the BBMP.”
He said: “The builder says that the building plan has not been approved as the High Court has given a stay on converting the land in the city.”
But Mr. Raju explained that the High Court has stayed further conversions of land. “As per the present notification, this land is designated as residential. Then, what is preventing the builder from constructing the houses? Let him construct the mall when he gets the necessary clearances to convert that part of the land from residential to commercial.”
Samiullah, yet another displaced person, raises the issue of the problems that the delay in construction of their houses is causing. He said: “We have already paid the BBMP for the houses 20 years ago. Yet, we are living in rented houses till today. We are not able to afford the rent.”
Mr. Raju urged Chief Minister Siddaramaiah to intervene in the matter so that they get their houses fast.
