Over 5000 building owners in Bengaluru served notice for violating norms

Mangalore Today News Network

Bengaluru, Nov 13, 2021: The Bruhat Bengaluru Mahanagara Palike (BBMP), the civic agency of Karnataka’s capital Bengaluru, will initiate action against more than 5,000 illegal buildings in the city which are suspected to have been built in violation of bylaws and sanctioned plans. The survey to identify the buildings is still on and soon, action will be initiated against owners, officials said. According to BBMP sources, among the 8,486 building plans that it has approved, as many as 5,223 buildings have been found to be built in violation of the sanctioned plans so far. This amounts to 84% of violations, and BBMP has served notices to all the owners.

 

The exercise has been taken up by the BBMP to provide information to the Karnataka High Court, which has slammed the civic agency against the backdrop of a series of building collapse cases in the city. The High Court had also sought the information regarding illegal buildings and the action plan of the civic agency to prevent such incidents in future.

The exercise was conducted by the Town Planning Committee and the list will be submitted to the High Court. BBMP Commissioner Gaurav Gupta has stated that the action is being taken as per the direction of the High Court.

The officers have gathered zonal-wise information on building additional floors, constructions without sanctioned plans in the city, and other violations. Notices have also been served for vacating illegal structures, he said.

A series of incidents of building collapse were reported last month in Bengaluru and residents had a narrow escape in all the cases. The civic agency had come under scanner for failing to identify vulnerable buildings. In the subsequent investigations, the negligence and collusion of officers had come to light.
Earlier in 2019, the BBMP had conducted a survey to identify dilapidated buildings and over 180 buildings had been marked, however, just 10 buildings had been demolished. From September 2021, several buildings including Karnataka Milk Federation (KMF) quarters had collapsed and a fresh survey had been initiated in October.

Courtesy:The News Minute