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Post date: Feb 7, 2014 9:44:59 AM
Residents watch is a comprehensive magazine covering HSR Layout. The 56-page magazine is brought out by Write Wing Media tells you where to eat, shop, party and other neighborhood news. In addition, it informs readers about the most important developments in the area.
Mr. Vidyasagar Magdum, President, Suncity Apartments Owners Association (SAOA) was interviewed by the magazine under their "Know Your Neighbor" program.
Interview Part 1
Interview Part 2
The following is the transcript of the interview.
Interview with Residents watch
Interview with Residents watch
When 39-year-old Vidyasagar Magdum isn't working as a project manager at Honeywell, he's hard at work as the president of the Suncity Apartment Owners' Association. He is part of the association for the last seven years as its co-founder. The association began with 15 members, then grew to 100, and now has 1200 members. "It's like managing two villages," he says candidly. "Most of the members are IT guys between 35 and 50 years and come from all corners of India. Very few are Kannadigas."
Size does matter at Suncity. The apartment complex is formed of clusters. Five buildings form a cluster and each cluster has 250 flats. Each building has three office bearers: Secretary, treasurer and block leader. In addition, each cluster has a cluster leader, who represents the cluster at executive meetings. There are five clusters, six board members and eight portfolios like housekeeping, water management, rainwater harvesting, sewage treatment, electrical, sports and cultural activities. "Each portfolio has a director," says Vidyasagar. "The director and cluster leader get to be part of the direct decision making with inputs from block leaders." In all, there are close to 70
association people who run the daily affairs of the mammoth residential condo. "Most Office bearers are active at the block and cluster level," says Vidyasagar. "They give feedback and we give our suggestions. Our board meets thrice a week, including half of Saturday and Sunday. The executive committee meets every alternate week."
The senior citizens have their own association and take delight in activities like tree plantation, donating milk, books and uniform to neighborhood government school in Iblur and so on. "They do what we cannot do, like chasing files in government offices. the Iblur park was developed with their effort and coordination."
So how does he manage to run a mini city? "There are huge expectations and it's a massive responsibility," admits Vidyasagar. "It's difficult to meet everyone's expectations, especially since we have a family and office to attend to. Devoting time to all three is a major challenge".
Here is the technology that is helping them. Apnacomplex, an apartment management software manages complaints, payments, tracking assets and maintaining the residents database. "We have interconnected all the motors in the buildings," says Vidyasagar. "Each building has two motors. this year, we are planning to interconnect the five diesel generators for the clusters. If one fails, the others will still work." The apartment security will get a facelift - the lift will not open without a swipe card or fingerprint impression." In some buildings, there is a door to the lift. If you don't have a card, you cannot even get inside the lift," says Vidyasagar. "Our other plans include the installation of CCTVs on all side roads. We will also issue car stickers, so there is an entry-exit record."
With such planning, can accomplishments be far behind? "There was a gate misused by people; so we got the BDA to biuld a wall to shield the complex from the slum next to it." Suncity is also one of the first few associations in south
Bangalore to fight against paying bribes to get a khata, thanks to corporator Latha Murthy and MLA Satish Reddy. they also got the electricity meter transfers (from landlord's share to their names) in much the same manner - without paying any bribes. "At first, the BESCOM and BBMP guys demanded a bribe of Rs 12,000. When we went with the MLA's recommendation, they still asked Rs 1000 each. When we told them that we would use RTI, they gave in. Whenever we have a civic issue, we call our MLA, and he's here within an hour - he has helped us resolve many issues."MLA's priorities
According to Vidyasagar, MLA Satish Reddy's primary priority should be to stop sewage from reaching the lakes in Agara, Bellandur and Iblur. In addition, the road from Outer Ring Road leading to Suncity needs to be re-laid. "None of the apartments get Cauvery water," says Vidyasagar. "We rely on tankers and borewells. We have 60% flats covered under rainwater harvesting. When we get good rain, we reduce water tanker usage for two days."
Corporator
The corporator has to play her part in protecting the lakes in her area and stop residential buildings from getting converted into commercial spaces. Garbage is still a mess. She needs to ensure its segregation at source through more awareness campaigns.
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