Several residents of the Karnataka Housing Board (KHB) Diamond Flats Residential Complex in Kengeri staged a protest on Saturday and confronted students of Bangalore University who were visiting the gated community complex to look at a proposed temporary hostel facility arranged for them by the university.
The residents locked the main gates and did not allow the students to step into the premises even though they were accompanied by KHB officials who insisted that the gates be opened. Angered, the students later staged a protest against the residents.
Saying that the proposal was from the Chief Secretary’s office, KHB Kengeri sub-division assistant executive engineer Ranganathappa said, “We had received a proposal from the Chief Secretary to allocate 17 houses to Bangalore University students for a period of one year at Diamond Flats until their hostel is built. The students had just come to have a look at the houses, but the residents turned against them. It is just a proposal and there was no need for the residents to panic.”
Several angry residents argued that the presence of a hostel or paying guest facilities within the gated complex would be nuisance. “We are buying water in tankers as Cauvery water supply has not been commissioned... we are already facing water problems in our flats. This arrangement of students being given 17 flats will only aggravate the situation,” one of them said.
