New Delhi: Love thy neighbour they say, but today housing societies seem more interested in power politics. Human rights violations do not necessarily take place in villages but can also be witnessed in a metropolis like Mumbai.

A housing society in the city has cut off the water and electricity supply to one of its members on the grounds of a dispute.

The family in question has spent the last two months of the sweltering Mumbai summer without water and electricity in spite of a court order. This is a reflection of the power politics that plague our cooperative societies.

The question that was being debated on CNN-IBN's India 360 was: Are housing societies in our cities being run like fiefdoms?

To debate the issue on the panel of experts was Chairman, Maharashtra Societies Welfare Association, Ramesh Prabhu; and President, People's Action, Sanjay Kaul.

Can a building bylaw provide for punitive action?

So does the Maharashtra Societies Welfare Association have the power to deal with this case in point? Can the Mallad housing society be directed to correct the wrong that they have done?

To this Ramesh Prabhu said that if a member approached them, then they would be able to refer this matter to the society and tell them that what they have done is absolutely wrong.

"If a complaint is registered, then the society has to restore the supply. In fact, the person has already got an order from the DDR and the municipal body that the supply should be restored, but it has still not been done," said he.

He said that suo motto action can be taken without a complaint being made against the housing society in question. "If the complaint comes to us in writing, definitely we can take up the matter, but nothing can be done without a written complaint," he said.