Don't buy or rent here!

Review on Vakil Satellite Township, Sarjapur Road, Bangalore

Don't go by the reviews on Google. Most of them are from delusional residents who think they live in a paradise.

Ghetto! That's the word that comes to mind when I think of my 6-month stay here. I had rented villa 428 in this property.

They say it's a gated community, but it doesn't work like one. All streets in the "township" are treated as public streets and shepherds from nearby villages bring their domestic animals to graze on the un-built plots. Along the way, the animals drop faeces all over the place. There are also talks of the local council building public buildings on one of the recreation areas within the township.

There is no piped water. You have to order water from an on-site tanker for INR 200. This will last a week for a family of 3. The water has a TDS of 495 ppm, which is dangerous and unfit for consumption. Using this water for shower dries out your skin and leads to hairfall.

The place experiences frequent power outages, some of which can last 6-10 hours. Voltage fluctuations are common. Also, power is expensive. You will need to get a high-power UPS setup.

Cooking gas is available at a "scenic" place called Chandapura market. I won't even put my enemies through a ride to the market. Close to 8 kms of unpaved, gravel filled, potholed road to get to a market where shops are surrounded by litter, rotting garbage, and human and animal faeces. Nobody speaks Hindi or English.

There are a handful of convenience stores next to this place and you need to drive to them. The road doesn't have pavements to walk on. The township is remote. That means you need to drive to get to restaurants, hospitals, hardware stores, etc. You will always be met with congestion at the intersection that takes you out of this hell. Cabs rarely venture down here.

A lot of home owners have pets and very few are trained. There have been instances of children getting attacked by pets. Mosquitoes are the second residents in this township, in addition to the occasional cobras that pay you a visit.

If you rent here, you will need to pay between 2-3k every quarter in resident fees and a similar amount every month in maintenance, which is billed annually. In return, all you get is street sweeping along the main street and periodic grass cutting.

If you are a young individual, this is the place you come to waste your youth.

If you are middle aged, do better and find a better place in the city.

If you are old, stay away unless you want to live your remaining life in abject misery.

Now, a side note on renting here: I had rented villa 428 from a slumlord by the name of Meer Ahmed. When I moved in, the villa was in a bad shape, particularly the structure and plumbing. It had no hot water as the heater and solar were broken. I followed up with Meer several times and finally got things to liveable standards. I had to pay out of pocket to buy a UPS and a water softener as the slumlord refused to provide them.

When I vacated, this slumlord didn't show up to the villa for inspection - a huge red flag that I failed to notice. Then he made excuses for not repaying the full deposit within a week and said it will take him 3 months to return the money. During this time, I had to chase after this crook several times to have him repay parts of the deposit. As the deadline drew closer, this guy showed his Bangalore slumlord colours, and sent me a list of problem with the villa, which he found on inspecting 3 months after I had vacated. I addressed each of his concern, but he never responded to them. Instead, he insisted it was my fault, however, he didn't have any proof. He refused to repay the full deposit, made excuses to delay repayment, and threatened to cut off WhatsApp communication because of my frequent follow-ups. This thief forgot he owed me money and it was overdue.

So if you plan to rent here or in Bangalore, know that most property owners are slumlords and there is a high chance they will steal from you one way or the other.

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