Neighbours of Ejipura leaning house demand strict action against owner

Neighbours of the leaning building near JJ Church in Ejipura 14th Cross on Thursday demanded the arrest of its owner Ramesh and the Bruhat Bengaluru Mahanagara Palike (BBMP) official who allowed him to build five floors. Ramesh had approval to build only two floors.

Since Ramesh did not turn up even on Thursday, the neighbours expressed their ire against him. “Strict action needs to be taken against Ramesh who has caused trouble to the neighbours by violating building norms,” urged the residents.

As a precaution, BBMP officials evacuated the neighbours temporarily. “The firemen evacuated us in a hurry on Wednesday. The building has been leaning towards the house which we had taken on rent. There are many valuables in the house besides clothes and furniture. Nobody has provided us an alternative accommodation,” said Syed Pasha, a neighbour.

Pasha is living with his relatives for now. “I work as an autorickshaw driver. I could not go to work since Wednesday as my house was damaged. My wife has been sick and it has been difficult to manage. We paid Rs 50,000 as advance before occupying the place. Ramesh must pay us the advance amount along with the cost of the material which we have lost due to this incident,” said Pasha.

Meanwhile, Shakira Begum, another neighbour said that around eight members of her family have been affected due to the tilt. “My husband works as a waiter in a hotel. We have been surviving with whatever our neighbours served us for two days. We have to find an alternative space soon,” said Begum.

The demolition work of the leaning building continued on Thursday. The fifth floor was demolished by the end of Thursday night. Meanwhile, H M Krishnamurthy, the engineer supervising the demolition, said that it might take four days to complete the task. “The building will not collapse. It might take about 4-5 days to demolish the fourth and the fifth floors of the building,” said Krishnamurthy. Around 20 workers are involved in the work.

He also said that since it is a narrow street, they have not been able to bring heavy equipment for the demolition.