Residents of D.K. Naik Nagar in Jayanagar 5 T Block, who have alleged that cracks have appeared on their residential buildings due to the ongoing metro construction work, have demanded compensation for the damage. The Bangalore Metro Rail Corporation Limited (BMRCL) is currently building Ragigudda station and has acquired the BBMP-run Akka Mahadevi Park for this purpose. With work under way, locals, who live around the construction sites, are up in arms.
People residing in the four affected buildings claim that movement of heavy vehicles, pillar work and so on have damaged walls, staircases and entrances of buildings that run parallel to the construction area.
BMRCL officials, however, said that the cracks may not be related to ongoing metro works, as these residences are located 25 metres away from the constructing site.
According to residents, the affected buildings are around four years old. “It’s not just cracks on the walls and staircases. A compound wall shared by two buildings developed a crack that was three inches wide when tunnelling began in February,” said one resident. The owners dipped into their own funds to repair the wall and other cracks.
BMRCL officials had inspected the buildings in February, but residents are yet to hear from them. They have also approached their local corporator, H.C. Nagarathna Ramamurthy (Pattabhi Ram Nagar ward).
The corporator said, “There have been four complaints from different houses that belong to people from economically weaker sections of society. The buildings in that region are compactly built and, hence, the structures are vulnerable. The incident had caused a lot of nuisance and created fear among residents of the lane. We had complained to BMRCL. Officials had inspected the buildings, but there has been no action in order to solve the problem even after approaching them several times. BMRCL should have taken precautionary measures while planning and surveying” she added.
Jayamma, a resident who works as a housemaid, said, “The development of cracks occurred overnight in February. With the onset of the monsoon, we had no other way but to immediately repair the cracks, as there was no help by the BMRCL. The incident has put my family into financial difficulty, as we had take loans to get the cracks repaired.”
BMRCL officials maintained that four buildings did not develop cracks. “To our knowledge, cracks have appeared in only one building that is located 25 metres away from the work site. No other building has developed cracks,” said Vasanth Rao, Chief PRO, BMRCL. “Our engineers are saying that it may not be related to the metro work. If it had happened because of metro work, it should have happened to a series of buildings, not one or two buildings.”
