The residents of the apartments are protesting against the builder’s refusal to equip them

Residents of the Ladder Capital Hill housing complex in Pangappara staged a protest outside the builder’s office at Thampanoor in Thiruvananthapuram on Thursday. | Photo credit: NIRMAL HARINDRAN U

Residents of Ladder Capital Hill, Pangappara staged a protest at the Ladder Cooperative Society office in Thampanoor on Thursday where they alleged that the builder refused to provide basic facilities.

The protest by about 80 of the 178 families, including women living in the flat, was held to highlight the “physical and mental harassment” of the residents by the builder. They raised slogans demanding an end to their suffering and

The Ladder Owners Association said residents are not getting basic amenities such as regular water or electricity supplies. “Water was not available even in the toilets,” residents said.

A resident who bought an apartment there more than a year ago said other apartment owners have been suffering longer than him. “Many elderly and seriously ill patients live here. However, the elevators are not working properly.”

No maintenance is performed. Waste management is in ruins. If there is a fire, there is no water to put it out. “We have suffered this indignity for years. It is a violation of basic human rights.”

Residents said that according to the instructions of the Real Estate Regulatory Authority, builders must facilitate the formation of residents’ associations and transfer maintenance of common areas, records, corpus funds collected from buyers to residents’ associations. However, no assets were transferred in Ladder Capital Hill and the corpus fund of ₹ 1.5 lakh collected from each family was handed over to the association.

Protesters said that such a situation was not seen in any other apartment in the city. “We are still paying EMIs for the flats we bought with our hard-earned money. But they are still not providing us with any facilities, though they promised to take care of it.”

Instead, the builders acted like idiots and sent people to threaten them. The association’s president and treasurer were “brutally beaten” earlier in the day, protesters claimed.

The flat owners said that a case is pending with RERA in this regard. They also filed cases with the Sreekaryam police. They also approached the city police commissioner to find a permanent solution to the problem.

The protesters said Sreekumar, manager of Ladder, told the Thampanoor police, who arrived at the protest site, that he had cut off water supply to the flats. Police then asked the manager to resume deliveries.

However, when contacted, a Ladder representative claimed that the residents assaulted maintenance workers sent to the job. However, he refused to elaborate on the protesters’ claims.

Thampanoor Station Officer said an agreement has been reached between the parties to restore water supply.

Published – 15 Oct 2026 23:12 IST