BENGALURU: The Bruhat Bengaluru Mahanagara Palike (BBMP) authorities are ignoring blatant violations of building bylaws in the city. It is well known that hundreds of buildings under construction violate these laws, yet BBMP engineers take no action beyond issuing a few notices to property owners and then seemingly forgetting about these buildings in their respective jurisdictions.
For instance, the BBMP Town Planning Assistant Director (South) issued a notice to Nalini V, the owner of a property in JP Nagar 2nd Stage, advising her to demolish the portion of the building constructed in violation of building bye-laws within 30 days of receiving the notice. The BBMP issued this notice on August 8, 2023. “The BBMP will take action against you under Section 356(2) of the BBMP Act 2020 and demolish the building and collect the amount spent for the demolition of the building,’’ the notice reads.
Later, on October 11, 2023, the BBMP Assistant Executive Engineer, JP Nagar Subdivision, wrote letters to the Assistant Executive Engineer of the Bengaluru Water Supply and Sewerage Board (BWSSB), Jayanagar, to disconnect the water supply and sanitary connection to the building under construction at JP Nagar 2nd Stage.
“Despite issuing a notice by the BBMP to the property owner, the construction work is in progress. So, disconnect the water supply and sanitary connection to the building under construction,’’ the letter reads.
The BBMP Assistant Engineer, JP Nagar Subdivision, also wrote a letter on October 11, 2023, to the Bengaluru Electricity Supply Company Limited (BESCOM) Assistant Executive Engineer, JP Nagar, to disconnect electricity to the building immediately, as the property owner continues the construction work even after the BBMP issued a notice.
However, the BBMP engineers assigned to demolish buildings constructed in violation of building bylaws did nothing despite repeated reminders from R. Rajagopalan, president of the JP Nagar Residents’ Welfare Association. “All these months, the engineers used to avoid taking action against the building on one or another pretext.
I did not disturb them in the last two months as they were assigned election duty. I approached the assistant executive engineer a few days ago. He began shouting at me instead of taking action against the property owner. He is threatening to file an atrocity case against me for reminding him of his responsibility. I have written a detailed letter to the BBMP Chief Commissioner and also lodged a complaint with Karnataka Lokayukta against the assistant executive engineer and assistant engineer for dereliction of duty,’’ said Rajagopalan.
I approached the assistant executive engineer a few days ago. He began shouting at me instead of taking action against the property owner–R Rajagopalan, president, JP Nagar Residents’ Welfare Association
Meanwhile, BBMP Assistant Executive Engineer Vanaraj denied threatening to file a case against Rajagopalan. “There are many buildings constructed in violation of building bylaws in and around JP Nagar. Rajagopalan has been insisting on me daily to demolish the building. It has become difficult for me to work here,’’ said the Assistant Executive Engineer.
