Car Parking and Basement Problems

The basement is meant for the car parking for the residents. But now, there is a hotel coming up in the ground floor commercial area, and to provide storage for the hotel, a room is constructed. Also we heard that the gas station will be kept at the basement, due to which there will be threat to the safety.

1. For me, the car parking allotment is done next to the steps for the basement, which will actually be a hindrance to others who try to take out their cars. The cars need to be parked at the periphery, not at the center.

2. The car parking is so congested and there is no space allocated for two wheeler parking. Those who own two wheeler may park here and there leading to problems for those who own the car parking.

3. The congestion was due to the unplanned store room construction at the basement. We hear that this is not approved by BDA and this may lead to problems later for the residents.

4. The resident car parking area will be accessed by the owners of commercial (especially hotel) which is not acceptable. It is not feasible to allow vehicles that carry load to enter the basement and unload the items into the stores. We have already asked to close the shutter door created; but no action had been taken on this.

Lack of Sanitary Conditions

Things are getting worse day after day. In the front of building there is a water leakage which is not addressed for more than two weeks. In spite of informing Boniface (FMS manager) and Mr. Rajath, still things are not addressed. For the sake of the hotel in commercial space, the basement and terrace is getting used. The safety concerns are not getting addressed. Without anyone's knowledge they have created a exhaust for the hotel at the terrace, next to the cloth drying lines. At least, shift the cloth drying lines to some other place. How can we dry clothes just below that? The smoke and carbon soot will be continuously coming out of it. The two-wheeler entry is blocked to provide storage space to hotel. Now, the entire place is becoming a dumping yard for vendors. I do not think any other builder would have created so much of these problems to the residents. In spite of instructions from Mr. Vikram to address the issues and ensure safety of the residents, things are only getting worse.

Car Parking at VSPL

Facility Committed by VSPL:

Spacious covered car parks in the basement and surface car parking in the periphery.

The car parking is not at all spacious & there is no provision for 2 wheeler parking at all. It is basically understood that when there is a car parking, there will be space for 2 wheelers also. However, Vikram Structures Pvt. Ltd. and their representatives are arguing that they did not commit 2-wheeler parking, so only 4-wheeler parking can be done.

The parking space is so congested that in some places, if two cars are parked side by side, then you cannot open the door. You have to open the roof of the car and get inside. When the flat owners complained about it, the builder said that they will bring the cars and demonstrate how to park (but this never happened). So, the philosophy is that do not provide a facility as committed and blame it on flat owners that they do not know how to park the vehicle.

More than this, there are much funnier arrangements in the car parking, which cannot be explained in the words. But it is not at all funny. It is the pain of the flat owners. But why VSPL should care for that? They have got their money.

Now, recently, there was a wall constructed to block the 2-wheeler entry. When one of the flat owners called and asked why that wall is getting constructed, she got a very irresponsible answer from the proprietor of VSPL, who questioned her who was she to question him?

Why was the car parking so congested? They want to give the ground floor commercial area for a hotel; the store room and gas station was built for the hotel in the basement, thus resulting in congested area and safety issues for the residents.

Sign my petition to stop the hotel from occupying the ground floor commercial space.

Some photos of the current status of the car parking area is shown below:

Water Proofing not done at VSPL

Facility Committed: Building Structure made of RCC frame work with concrete block masonry walls & Water proof treatment done for sunken RCC slab.

Water Proofing not done. I have escalated this many times. From September 2014 I am continuously following up. Informed to site engineer Manjunath, Mr. Vikram Prabhakar, Mr. Manjunath and Boniface (facility management services) of Vikram Structures Pvt. Ltd. They came for doing the measurement. After that, no progress. Every time the site engineer keeps telling some reason. The rain water seeps through the walls and the paint on the wall goes away. I had lot of trouble painting the house. Now, almost 9 months got over, and still it is not done.

Water Facility at VSPL Divine

Facility committed: Two bore well and cauvery water connection

As on today (May 22, 2015) the cauvery connection is not provided yet.

There are two bore well and a cauvery water connection promised by the builder. But currently there is only bore well water which is being pumped through a motor to the tank. The water is sufficient; however if the commercial area also starts using the water then there will be issues. 

The residents of VSPL Divine requested Mr. Vikram Prabhakar of VSPL to not let out the commercial space to any hotel. However, Mr. Vikram said that it is beyond his control and that the commercial space is already given to someone who has to decide whom to rent it out. If a hotel comes there and starts using up the water, then there will be serious problem. And also there are other safety issues connected to the hotel being there. The residents do not have clarity. In fact, when one of the residents mentioned that there are dangers of fire accident, VSPL just responded by keeping fire extinguishers in each floor. Why not proactively avoid such risks? 

Recently Mr. Boniface from the Facility Management of VSPL conveyed that one of the bore wells will be used by commercial and the residents had objection for the same. If one of the bore well is not working what is the other option? Initially it was told that the commercial space will not use the facility meant for residents and even the car parking. Now how is it that one of the bore well is being handed over to them? 

Cauvery water connection is not arranged yet. In a meeting held on January 8, 2015 it was conveyed that the facility will be arranged in 30-45 days. But even after 150 days there is no progress regarding this.

Lift Facility in the Apartment

Facility committed: One elevator with a capacity of six passengers.

As on today (May 15, 2015) the elevator is not ready yet.

The official hand over of the apartments to the residents happened somewhere in the month of September 2014, however many facilities are still pending and the primary one which is causing the highest level of inconvenience to the residents is the delay in elevator facility.

On Jan 08, 2015 the directors of VSPL met all the residents and promised to address their concerns and apologized for the delay. They promised that the elevator facility will be arranged before end of March 2015. But there is no progress.

There are delays due to material supply...then there are delays due to construction team... however this does not change the fact that the residents are highly inconvenienced. Old people struggling to climb the steps is a common sight. Hope this gets resolved soon. Will update this blog once it is done.

Work is still half-way through. (status as on July 23, 2014)

The problem is that the workers use the common area power and leave the dust and debris there for the residents to clean up. Very bad. No use escalating to site engineers or even to Vikram Structures Pvt. Ltd. (VSPL)

Moreover till last week the doors were not put up. They leave the opening as is without covering and we were scared of the safety of the kids. That way it is a relief today.

In fact VSPL has to pay 10000 to 15000 per month per resident for any delay after April 2014. They told us to occupy in September to avoid paying this. Further, they have not provided all the committed facilities and amenities till date. Lift is pending. Not yet got Cauvery Water Connection also.