'Seven floors instead of three': Bengaluru residents fear another collapse in Kundalahalli

BENGALURU: Residents of AECS Layout C Block in Kundalahalli, east Bengaluru, have launched a concerted campaign against two buildings with unauthorised additional floors being built in their midst, fearing that a tragedy similar to the Babusapalya building collapse — which claimed eight lives — could happen in their locality.Following months of complaints and appeals from them to various civic bodies, BBMP finally issued demolition notices. On Friday, however, when BBMP personnel arrived at the spot to execute the demolition work, the builders produced a high court order staying the notices.The order, dated April 1, gave the builders 10 days to appeal. The court, however, has asked the builders to undertake that if their violations aren't regularised, they will demolish the extra floors built.The construction began last year and residents have consistently raised concerns over the violations marking both structures. Residents allege they were frequently threatened and no safety measures were provided during construction.The two plots where the buildings are coming up are located on either side of one Chandrappa MK's house. The fourth in the line is the house of Raju Srinivas, 60, a retiree.Chandrappa alleged that though BBMP had sanctioned plans for only ground plus three floors on one site and ground plus two on another, the developers built seven and eight floors, respectively. Violations & harassmentThe residents obtained copies of the sanctioned plans via Right to Information (RTI) and confirmed the violations themselves. There were also reports of construction labourers causing disturbance at night and harassing women in nearby homes during the day. The residents filed police complaints, but the response was ineffective.Chandrappa and Srinivas then filed a complaint with BBMP seeking demolition of the illegal constructions.The civic authority issued notices to the property owners, culminating in formal demolition notices being issued in Nov 2024. However, the construction work continued on both plots on the pretext of procedural delays.The two complainants were backed by the AECS Layout Welfare Association. Residents claim they escalated the matter to higher authorities, including the BBMP chief commissioner, Bescom, BWSSB, and even the Lokayukta. It was only after these interventions that construction was halted on both plots over the past month. "After the construction started, cracks developed in the walls of my building. Tenants who stayed in that portion left saying they weren't safe anymore. The foundation base and sewerage of my building were also damaged. Initially, I thought it was fine and continued to bear with them, but as the days passed, things only got out of hand," Srinivas said.Meanwhile, a senior BBMP zonal official said, "We can't go against HC orders; we'll wait and see what course the events will take and then take action."Venkatesha H | secretary, AECS Layout Welfare AssociationWe aren't going to leave this issue here. Everybody knows what happened to the Babusapalya building case, which resulted in the death of eight people. We'll wait for two weeks, and if the same isn't done by the builder, we'll approach higher officials. We've been making noise since last year, and at last the officials came today. But this is disappointingChandrappa MK | AECS Layout resident for 22 yearsWe spoke with the owners/builders multiple times, asking them to stop the construction as it is beyond the permitted floors. They blabbered with us, saying they have given money to the town planning and BBMP officials. Because of them digging the ground deep, my building developed cracks. Despite multiple complaints to officials, nobody responded. Even now, because of the court order, nothing is being done. At the end of the day, it's common people like us suffering the most