Bengaluru:Prestige Sunrise Park in Electronics City, a high‑rise enclave of 1,046 apartments, recently ordered residents to clear corridors of every personal item—shoe cupboards, potted plants, even small storage bins—to meet fire‑safety norms that demand clutter‑free escape routes.
Management circulated written warnings, held town‑hall sessions, and allowed a generous two‑month grace window. About half the occupants originally flouted the rule, but all except two eventually shifted their belongings. One hold‑out capitulated after multiple reminders; the other has dug in his heels—literally.
That owner, unwilling to drag his shoe rack inside, prepaid ₹15,000 as a retainer against sanctions and keeps topping up at ₹100 per day. Over eight months his non‑compliance tab has reached ₹24,000, yet the rack still blocks the communal passage.
Resident‑Welfare Association president Arun Prasad says the committee will now double the levy to ₹200 daily to break the impasse. “We’ve tried dialogue and notices, but corridor safety isn’t negotiable,” he explains. Fire authorities endorse the crackdown: seconds lost dodging obstacles can prove fatal during a blaze or quake evacuation.
Neighbours are divided—some admire the man’s stubborn right to “use his threshold,” others fume that preference should not trump collective security. Legal options, from arbitration to locking the item in the basement, have been floated but not yet pursued.
As the fine climbs, the standoff poses a curious question: will pride or pocketbook blink first, or will Bengaluru’s most expensive shoe shelf stride on?
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