For 2,000 families, monsoons have brought only wrath
For 2,000 families, monsoons have brought only wrath
Life for over 2,000 families, shacking in Koramangala in the monsoon is living hell.
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For, whenever it starts raining, the families have to leave their makeshift homes, and look for tarpaulin sheets to escape nature's wrath.
Prior to 2002, the residents had led a normal life. But later, the same year, a building in the thirteenth block collapsed due to heavy rains.
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| Residents say that despite promises, their plight has fallen on deaf ears. |
The then MLA R Ashok had asked them to vacate blocks 13-30, promising to construct new high-rise living quarters for Economic Weaker Section (EWS), and had also handed over documents of allotment.
Temporary sheds were constructed, in which the residents are still living leaking and water-logging notwithstanding. The promise has just remained a promise.
The residents are now hoping some NGOs and techies will give them some relief.
Koramangala is home to a large community of techies and this has inspired them to seek help.
On July 24, 2007, the rest of the building collapsed, and three persons, including one-year-old Mahalaxmi, died.
The state government ordered the residents to vacate, and the corporation demolished the entire building.
They then constructed some more sheds, and that was the last time they were seen.u00a0u00a0u00a0u00a0
Problems galore
There are only two taps for the 2,000 families that live there.
The borewells don't work, and the tank is never cleaned. If anybody dares to clean the tank, there is the big challenge of climbing the stairs.
u00a0Government doctors never visit this area; they simply come to the main road and return.
Most of the children are facing malnutrition. Residents don't have toilets and bathrooms; they bathe on the open road.
Nagina J, a resident, said, "In the monsoons, we have to ask our relatives for some living space. Twice, the sheet covering my house tore I had to repair it myself. It's like living in hell."
Anand Ramdurg, a techie from Mphasis, said, "If it is possible to help them, we will. There are so many in Bangalore who need help. It's an insult to the nation."
