A 5-yr blackout for EWS residents!

Y. Maheswara Reddy | NT

Bengaluru: “We live like refugees here. We have no formal identification and no basic amenities,” says Irfan, a resident of the quarters constructed by the Karnataka Slum Development Board in Sarjapura. Irfan, along with 900 families, comprising over 3000 people, were evicted from their homes in Ejipura in 2012. They were relocated to new quarters following a High Court order but five years later, they still live without electricity supply.

Residents rush home before dark because there are no working street lights either. “I don’t even have the luxury of doing homework or preparing for my exams under an electric tube light. I depend on candles to study through the night,” says Kala A., a student who lives at the quarters in Sarjapura. Shyam Kumar, who is in the eighth grade, tells a similar story. Without piped water, hapless residents depend on private tankers, which cost about `600. The expense is shared by 20 families.

Nearly a decade ago, in 2012, the BBMP demolished the EWS (Economically Weaker Sections) quarters near Ejipura, without making arrangements to relocate the families living there. The residents were forced to put up temporary sheds on the footpath. However, the Karnataka High Court directed the BBMP to relocate the families, some of whom had sought legal recourse.

As per the High Court’s directions, the BBMP floated a tender in November 2013, inviting bidders to construct 45 blocks with 20 residential quarters each. The quarters were to be handed over to the evicted families.

These quarters were to be handed over to the families evicted from the EWS quarters within 20 months. As usual, the BBMP had not handed them over even two years after the original deadline had passed. Again, these families were compelled to file a follow-up case in the High Court, against BBMP for not handing over their quarters to them.

“Many of these families were forced to reside in makeshift tents on the footpath for five years. They risked their lives doing so - there was no safety, especially for the girls, in these tents,” said Luvies Patrick, President, Dr B.R. Ambedkar Youth Social Welfare Association. Patrick says that neither the Karnataka Slum Development Board authorities nor the BBMP have bothered to allocate the residences to the families. “The authorities have also failed to provide basic amenities,” he added. “My father works as a security guard. I have joined the nearby Government High School as my parents could not afford to send me to a private school,” says Shyam Kumar, an eighth grade student who lives at the quarters in Sarjapura. “I struggle to study at night because I am dependent on candles.”

With no electricity and borewells, private water tankers are the only option. Around 20 families get together to split the cost, which is about Rs 600 for a tanker. “Each block needs at least three water tankers each week,” says Irfan.

Mosquitoes are the other menace for the residents. “We are not able to sit outside our homes in the evening, even for a short time, due to mosquitoes. My feet are swollen with bites,” said R Malliga, a homemaker.

As if this is not enough, safety remains a major concern, with no street lights on the half-km road between the quarters and Sarjapur Road. The contractor who constructed the building installed the electric poles but they have no wiring. The streetlights were also installed but lack bulbs and wires.