The construction of a residential house in 121, 3rd cross, Dollars Layout, JP Nagar 4th phase has been going on for more than past four years. This design-as-you-go house is less than 50 per cent complete at this time. The construction is done with steel and concrete. This type of construction requires very good planning as there is very little room for error. Once the concrete is poured the structure is fixed and can’t be altered. This building is anything but planned. One day they build a section of the building and following week they realise they made a mistake. Then they bring heavy duty concrete cutter to erase a portion of it. Even pillars are constructed in this building on an incremental basis.
The road in front of the building under construction. Pic: Ajith V.
Imagine this, every day heavy duty concrete cutter rattles not only the neighbouring houses but the harsh noise is heard a few blocks away from the construction place. Otherwise centering wood with an electric cutter which produces a shrill deafening noise disturbs surrounding residents. These days, it is the piercing noise from electric metal cutters. One way or the other you are guaranteed to hear the noise every single day for years. All in all it has been a nightmare for the neighbors but again is this activity illegal? Definitely not but the neighbourhood has to endure it.
One might ask why there is no end in sight? Why the building is just 50 per cent complete? The secret is only four people work on this project, two to construct and two to cut it down.
This disregard to the neighbours doesn’t stop here. The place is a mess, with stagnant water all over the place and nobody to clean the debris. No shielding or tarpaulin encloss the site and as a result dust and cement land up in neighbouring houses. The road in front of the constructed building is half-blocked with construction material lying around all over. Ditto for the open plot on the backside. Storm water drain has remained blocked first by the shed and now by debris.
The building under construction. Pic: Ajith V.
You also know there is trouble, when the workers don’t enjoy their work. Casual talks with them reveal how they hate to work on a project for four years, building and tearing it down, just to build it all over again. Added to that there is no electricity on site many a days, the watchman on site is all alone with no enclosed place to stay or sleep. Mosquitoes rule the place with all the stagnant water, making their stay a nightmare. On casual count, the labour force has changed three times so far. Easy to summarise – it is not just the neighbours who are irked.
You might be thinking why not talk to the owners and fix the situation. We have talked to the builder (who owns an architect firm, called InFORM ) and the future residents, who are the builder’s relatives but we just get lip-service. The builder says the right things but does nothing about it. ⊕