HSR Habba slammed yet again for latenight music!

January 12, 2021December 10, 2018 by RW News Network

Despite our last year’s story about the organisers using high decibels and conducting the musical night even after midnight, they don’t seem to have learnt their lesson this year too. Yesterday, the loud music went on past midnight, annoying several residents across Sector 3, 4 and 2. Everybody wanted to know how the cops can allow such a function to happen. There were several calls made by the residents to the police control room. “The cops said they would send the Hoysala, but the music hasn’t stopped yet?” complained one resident. Another resident replied: “That’s because how can they stop an event that has the blessings of the MLA.”

HSR Habba slammed yet again for latenight music! 2

But when they were informed that it was happening with the blessings of Bommanahalli MLA Sathish Reddy, the residents wanted the politician to correct himself and ensure that such functions and noise pollution activities are curtailed by 10pm. Lets hope Kishore Reddy, the president of Bharatiya Janata Yuva Morcha (Bommanahalli) who organised the event, corrects himself the next time around. However, the residents are urging the BBMP not to give permissions to anybody, no matter which party they belong to or even if it has the blessings of the MLA. Rules are rules and must be uniform to everybody, the residents argue.

Adding to the chaos was the 27th Main Road being held to ransom on Saturday with an open street fest, fashion show and dance war. HSR Federation chairman BNR Reddy wanted to know how the cops can allow commercial activity on a public property. Every other Residents Welfare Association echoed his views. The traffic chaos that ruled the streets around this time was to be seen to be believed. There was crawl up at Nandini Cooljoint junction on one end and at the NIFT junction on 27th Main Road as traffic was sealed off from 13th Cross to 16th Cross on 27th Main Road.

Sector 7 senior citizen goes missing on Wed, found on Friday, thanks to social media

January 12, 2021December 10, 2018 by RW News Network

Here is a bittersweet story about a Sector 7 senior citizen who went missing on Wednesday and was found in Jayanagar on Friday by folks who had seen his photograph flashed across social media.

Sector 7 senior citizen goes missing on Wed, found on Friday, thanks to social media 4

S Narasimhan, an 80 year old suffering from dementia (short term memory loss) stepped out for a walk and forgot his address along the way. His photograph with his details were uploaded by his family members across social media. His son Sathyanarayana N is much relieved now.

“That’s the power of social media,” Sathyanarayana told Residents Watch. “He was found in Siddapura, Jayanagar, at around 11am on Jayanagar. Somebody spotted him and gave us the information with his location. We rushed to the place and got him back. He was out of home for two days, and we are yet to recover from this incident.”

The ‘missing person’ message is still going round social media, so we would suggest the folks to stop forwarding the message as he has returned and also clarify on the channels where they see them, by perhaps sharing their story over there.

Marshalls allegedly catch culprits behind Bellandur Lake fire

January 12, 2021December 8, 2018 by RW News Network

According to the BBMP, the culprits behind the massive fire that engulfed Bellandur Lake in January this year have been caught. And they don’t happen to be industries letting chemicals into the lake but four scrap dealers who have been clandestinely burning OFCs to extract copper from them to sell it elsewhere and make a living.

Marshalls allegedly catch culprits behind Bellandur Lake fire 6

According to the cops, these youth were indulging in this for the last two years, and could well be the reason behind the frequent burnings spotted around the lake.

However, this time around, with marshalls on duty, they were caught on December 6 at around 11.50am near the Bellandur Tank Bund Road which comes under the HSR Layout police’s jurisdiction.

In the police complaint filed by Doradla Narasimha Rao, the BBMP’s assistant executive engineer, the four accused burnt plastic wires and violated a state government order. The accused are Senthil (23 years), Pandurangan (28), Sharanappan (30) and Prakash (19).

Silk Board signal waiting time of 20-30 minutes will not end for some more time

January 12, 2021December 7, 2018 by RW News Network

Commuters at Central Silk Board junction wait atleast 20-30 minutes to cross the signal during peak hours and atleast 10 minuets during non-peak hours. Plans to make it signal-free have been in the works for the last 2.5 years, but the first tender failed to get a response from enough bidders. And now, the second bidding has also failed. It’s back to square one for both Bangalore Metro Rail Corporation Limited (BMRCL) and the commuters who will have to suffer more.

Silk Board signal waiting time of 20-30 minutes will not end for some more time 8

The Silk Board junction is also the most congested and polluted junctions in the city. And if the status quo remains for some more time for lack of bidders, HSR residents are as much affected, pollution-wise as well. The 2.84 elevated corridor planned at the junction isn’t getting enough bidders because while the BMRCL estimates that Rs 133.54 crore is just enough to build the flyover, the bidders don’t want to build it for anything less than Rs 223 crore.

Who will plug this Rs 90 crore gap? Perhaps if commissions go away from the system, the corridor can be built with just Rs 90 crore and not even Rs 133 crore, say some insiders. But will it? Who will bell the corrupt cat when the cat happens to be the entire system?

HSR has a new Joint Commissioner and Assistant Executive Engineer

January 12, 2021December 7, 2018 by RW News Network

BBMP Joint Commissioner (Bommanahalli) Veerabhadraswamy has left to make way for Dr A Soujanya, who was previously Deputy Commissioner, Land Acquisition and TDR (Transferable Development Rights) at the civic body. Last year, she was the Additional Commissioner (Administration) of Mysuru City Corporation (MCC).

HSR has a new Joint Commissioner and Assistant Executive Engineer 10 — Dr A Soujanya

That’s not all. HSR Layout has a new Assistant Executive Engineer in SV Srinivas at the BBMP. His predecessor was Ananth Raju. Previous to him, Venkatesh was the AEE who was sacked by then chief minister Siddaramaiah at a public meeting in Sector 3 when the residents complained about his inaction on illegal buildings and rampant commercialisation in HSR Layout.

Right now, Ananth Raju has decided to take time off to recuperate from long hours of working, before being transferred to a different ward. Srinivas is the official you need to contact in cases of building violations, commercialisation, desilting of drains, road humps, and road dividers, among others.

The residents of HSR Layout are looking forward to working with the new faces at BBMP in resolving the many issues of this burgeoning neighbourhood.

Their numbers are:

Dr A Soujanya, Joint Commissioner (Bommanahalli): 94806-83433

SV Srinivas, AEE, BBMP: 94806-85422

HSR’s Top 10 property tax offenders list is out!

January 12, 2021December 7, 2018 by RW News Network

HSR's Top 10 property tax offenders list is out! 12

Sector 2 resident K Shiva Rao tops with Rs 13 lakh outstanding payments towards BBMP for property tax. He is followed by Agara village resident G Vasudeva with outstandings of Rs 11.74 lakh. The Top 10 tax violators in HSR Ward owe the BBMP over Rs 80 lakh.

This list was generated as the BBMP officials were ordered by the taxation department of the civic agency to identify the top 10 property tax violators in every zone by December 1.

It has been found that many property owners of commercial buildings have not paid their property tax for several years. Once the list of offenders is generated in every ward, the Deputy Commissioner will inspect these commercial buildings and take action on them.

Sector 3 resident loses laptop & phone for keeping his door open

January 12, 2021December 6, 2018 by RW News Network

Always keep your doors and windows shut, particularly if you live on the ground floor. Twenty-seven-year-old Somil Jhavar realised this harsh truth when he kept his door open and allowed thieves to steal his valuables.

Sector 3 resident loses laptop & phone for keeping his door open 14 — Dell Inspiron

Sector 3 resident loses laptop & phone for keeping his door open 15 — Samsung Galaxy Note 9

The incident occurred on December 3 between 8am and 8.20am. Staying on 18th A Main, 23rd Cross, Somil had left the door open and gone inside his house to cook. In those 20 minutes, some strangers have entered his house and stole his Dell Inspiron laptop and Samsung Galaxy Note 9.

Both are expensive gadgets to own. A note 9 costs anywhere between 62000 and 70000. A Dell Inspiron, depending on the configuration can cost from Rs 40,000 to Rs 70,000.

Cycle track width reduced to accommodate more traffic on roads

January 12, 2021December 6, 2018 by RW News Network

Cycle track width reduced to accommodate more traffic on roads 17

When the 2014 cycle track plan was proposed for HSR Layout, the cycle track width was more. But over the years, the roads in HSR also had as much more vehicular traffic. Therefore, the width of the cycle tracks are now reduced to provision more space for movement of vehicles.

Since road users are far more than those using cycles, the BBMP is now forced to ensure that the road width isn’t reduced to accommodate the cycle track. “Today, we cannot dedicate 2.5 metres to the cycle track,” said one senior official. “Therefore, we are now working out a compromise formula where we will be using half the footpath and about 1-1.8 metre of the road for the cycle track.”

Being a dream project for Bangalore, there have been many hurdles that the Bruhat Bengaluru Mahanagara Palike (BBMP) and Department of Urban Land Transport (DULT) have faced in the last few years. “Many people are opposed to the cycle track because they feel that the roads are used more,” said one official, privy to the controversy surrounding it. The revised plan is awaiting approval from the Commissioner of DULT. Once approved, the cycle track will be functional in a month’s time, say BBMP officials.

One bill of the BBMP contractor who had done much of the drainage and tiling work for footpaths in HSR Layout is already cleared, and the other one will be cleared soon, according to another highly placed official in the BBMP.

Which came first? Graveyard or the road?

January 12, 2021December 5, 2018 by RW News Network

Did you know that a graveyard encroaches half the road on 26th Cross, 17th Main in Sector 3? Well, here are some interesting facts about it. According to one BDA official who served his previous term before being transferred, this was a wasteland belonging to the government when HSR was just a village. However, once the BDA took over the land, it left the graveyard as it is and did the rest of the road, according to him.

Which came first? Graveyard or the road? 19

Which came first? Graveyard or the road? 20

Which came first? Graveyard or the road? 21

Another BDA official said that the area around Ellukunte where this graveyard is located is rife with litigations. “There are so many questionable land deals out there and many are embroiled in litigations,” he said. “This graveyard land could also be involved in such a court case. “The new BDA officials in HSR should do a spot inspection and find out if it’s unauthorised or notified land.” Another BDA official said that it cannot be private land as all wasteland is government land.

To put an end to this speculation, we asked the new BDA official about it. After going through the land records, M Prabhu, the new BDA assistant executive engineer confirmed that according to the new map of BDA, 875 is a site. And what about the land next to 875? “It doesn’t show anything here.”

Clearly, this is some contentious territory that the previous BDA officials chose to ignore and only did half the road, keeping the graveyard intact on the rest of the road. However, this needs to be sorted out as it’s government land. “If the residents write a letter to us why they want the graveyard to go away, we could initiate an enquiry and submit our findings to the higher-ups for further action,” said Prabhu.

The fact that it’s appeared as a media report should be reason enough for the BDA to initiate action. After all, what’s a graveyard doing on a residential road? Residents complain that it’s a health hazard, and others say that it’s a traffic bottleneck around this area. In addition, all kinds of people are parking their autos, tempos and cars alongside the encroached road. Creating an opportunity for outsiders to park their vehicles here is also a security issue. Therefore, we urge the BDA officials to initiate action based on this report and clear the road of the graveyard. It’s better late than never.

Pizza was delivered like this! Zomato refunds money!

January 12, 2021December 5, 2018 by RW News Network

Resident Prakher Singhal was mighty upset yesterday when Zomato delivered a pizza that was all scrunched up (see pic). It was like delivering a smashed up cake. Although Zomato refunded the money, the damage was done. And Prakher went public with this pathetic delivery style of Zomato.

Pizza was delivered like this! Zomato refunds money! 23

Tweeting to Zomato, he said 14 hours ago, “Is this how pizza is delivered? Orderid# 1188351487. I saw the delivery boy. He carried the pizza like a laptop in backpack. All slices were on top of each other. I have got the refund but is this an excuse for pathetic delivery?”

To be fair to Zomato, this does not happen often. But when it does due to the incompetence of its staff, the company does get its share of brickbats. However, it’s a good thing. That’s how the company and its staff will always be on their toes. And when they come under the media glare, they become even more so.

Cab runs into ambulance parked on Outer Ring Road

January 12, 2021December 5, 2018 by RW News Network

On December 3, at around 5am, 22-year-old cab driver Nagendra was driving in front of Microsoft office near Iblur junction on Outer Ring Road (ORR). He was ferrying passenger Ravikumar (40 years) towards Bellandur not realising that a little ahead, an ambulance driver (KA04 A3559) had stopped his vehicle in the middle of the road and stepped out.

Cab runs into ambulance parked on Outer Ring Road 25 — Representative image.

The bus driver in front of Nagendra’s cab expertly manoeuvred the bus at the last minute to the left, but since the cab driver wasn’t aware of the ambulance’s presence, he tried to apply the breaks at the last minute to avoid a collision. But it was too little, too late. The car lost its balance and hit the ambulance, which severely mutilated the cab and also injured the driver.

Nagendra’s hands, posterior, chest and other areas bled because of the impact while passenger Ravikumar escaped with minor injuries. With the help of the passersby, both were taken to the nearby Sakra Hospital for immediate treatment. A major case is filed against the ambulance driver for parking his vehicle in the middle of the road.

The HSR cops have registered two cases under the Indian Motor Vehicles Act, 1988 (section 134A& 134B). The accused could be imprisoned anywhere between 3 months and three years under the act. The cops have also booked cases under the Indian Penal Code (279 – rash driving, 283 – no parking, 337 – causing hurt).

Realtor loses Rs 1 crore in a land deal gone wrong

January 12, 2021December 5, 2018 by RW News Network

A BTM Layout resident has allegedly been conned of Rs 1 crore by four landlords staying in HSR Layout. The cops have registered a case of ‘criminal breach of trust’ in addition to cheating and dishonesty.

Realtor loses Rs 1 crore in a land deal gone wrong 27

Forty-four-year-old PK Chacko, is the managing director of Oceanus Dwellings Private Limited whose office is in PN Plaza building on 18th Cross, Sector 3, HSR Layout. The accused are Muninanjamma (93), N Nagaraja Reddy (72), B Govindamma (66) and N Vasudev Babu (47) who claimed to own 3 acres 9 gunta land in Singasandra.

On January 31, 2006, Chacko entered into a joint venture deal with them and paid them an advance of Rs 1 crore. Later, Chacko realised that the land was under litigation. When he asked for a refund, the accused asked him to give a No Objection Certificate (NOC), so they could sell the land to some other developer and pay back Chacko’s money.

On August 7, 2006, Chacko claimed to have given an NOC to the accused, but till date, the accused are alleged to have not returned his money. Instead, Chacko claims that the accused have allegedly sold off their joint venture land to a developer and cheated him out of the deal and the money he gave them. Incidentally, all the four accused stay in one house in Sector 6, HSR Layout.