BENGALURU: Bruhat Bengaluru Mahanagara Palike (BBMP) has identified over 1,500 buildings constructed in violation of approved plans across the city during a survey it started on Oct 28 and has begun issuing notices to property owners, asking them to demolish the illegal structures.
According to officials, the Palike should follow provisions of Karnataka Town and Country Planning Act while taking action against such buildings, and that procedure will take at least 3 to 4 months.
BBMP chief commissioner Tushar Giri Nath confirmed that they may need 3-4 months to demolish buildings after identifying them as illegal.
Nath said BBMP should issue a notice to the building owner soon after finding that the structure had violated the approved plan. The civic body should give the property owner 15 days to raze the illegal building. If the owner fails to follow the first notice, BBMP should issue another one, giving him/her 30 days. In case the owner appeals to BBMP, saying the building hasn’t violated sanctioned plan, the Palike should give 60 days to verify the facts.
All these procedures will take more than 3 months, and finally, BBMP will be able to demolish the building and recover cost from the property owner.
However, another senior civic official said a mahazar should be conducted in the owner’s presence before deciding to demolish a structure. He said BBMP has the authority to raze buildings in emergency and dangerous situations. Such buildings can be demolished within 24 hours of issuing a notice. If there is no immediate danger, legal action should be taken by providing time according to regulations.
According to BBMP sources, most of the unauthorised buildings identified so far are related to schools, hospitals and residences in the city.
