75 per cent of Bangalore City buildings illegal

www.mangaloretoday.com

By Bosky Khanna, Deccan Herald, Bangalore

Bangalore, Dec 19, 2013: Parking on roadsides has become a huge menace in the City. But this problem would not have become so gigantic, had the Bruhat Bangalore Mahanagara Palike (BBMP) officials taken note of buildings violating the norms.

There are 15 lakh buildings in Bangalore that have violated the parking norms. This number has been revealed by an internal assessment conducted by BBMP’s Town Planning Department. Officials in the department point that there are only five lakh buildings in Bangalore that have followed norms, of the total of 20 lakh buildings approved by BBMP.

A BBMP official on condition of anonymity told Deccan Herald, “if we go by the law, then these buildings need to be demolished as they are illegal structures. But we cannot do so because of varied reasons. This problem has led to the parking menace in the City.”

Under Chapter 8 of the Zoning Rules for Bangalore City, providing parking space is mandatory. The builder should provide parking space in the building and it can be any floor of their premises. No permission for construction can be given if the builder does not show provision for parking in the design plan. Further, in case if they have a cellar, that should be used as parking space. In the absence of a cellar, then any floor can be used as parking space by providing adequate passage ways.

“But this rule remains only on paper. Most buildings in Bangalore do not provide parking space. There are instances where we (the BBMP) have included parking slots in the plan before giving approval. But when building has been constructed, parking slot is absent. BBMP officials are also equally responsible for this violation,” the official pointed.

BBMP Commissioner N Lakshminarayan told Deccan Herald that he was aware of this problem but his priority now is to get the parking policy implemented.

 “Once the parking policy is implemented, many problems will be solved. So far, no drives have been conducted or thought of to raze such structures.”

Prof M N Sreehari, advisor to the State government on traffic, transportation and infrastructure, questioned how BBMP issued occupancy certificates to builders when there is no provision for parking.

Further, BBMP has an account of only those buildings that generate tax, there is no account of other structures. Now, if they want to implement the parking policy, then this is just a gimmick. They should change the building bylaws first, which will solve most of the problems, he added.