Are the Bruhat Bengaluru Mahanagara Palike (BBMP) engineers responsible for the tussle between the residents and builders in residential areas? If the ongoing contention between the residents on Sri Krishna Temple Road and the builder is anything to go by, it seems so.
According to the residents, who are running pillar to post, to ensure compliance of zonal regulations, the BBMP engineers are the responsible for the fight between the builder and themselves. They say the BBMP ward office is just 500 meters away from the spot where a high-rise building is being constructed, in violation of the building bylaws but the BBMP engineer did not notice this at all, until the residents brought it to his notice.
“I think the BBMP engineers are responsible for ensuring that there is no violation of building bylaws. They merely sanction the building plan and never bothered to monitor the construction work. They wait till the residents raise objections thus causing friction between the residents and the building owner or the contractor,’’ said Sneha Nandihal, I Change Indiranagar founder.
It may be recalled that it was the residents who had alerted the BBMP engineers when the contractor dumped truckloads of construction material on the road on November 10. They waited till the BBMP authorities arrived on the spot and seize the construction material. On November 11, Mayor Gautam Kumar Jain visited the spot and directed the BBMP engineer to stop the construction work and remove the construction material from the road.
“We expected the BBMP engineers to file a police complaint but nothing has been done. The assistant executive engineer and the assistant engineer had switched off their phones after 1 pm on Saturday,’’ said a resident on a condition of anonymity.
Meanwhile, Mayor Gautam Kumar Jain has opined that BBMP engineers should not have allowed the contractor to go ahead with the construction work.
“I have already informed BBMP Commissioner about the illegal building. I will discuss this with him again on Monday,’’ the Mayor said.
Citing the stay order from Karnataka Appellate Tribunal (KAT) as the main hurdle for the BBMP to initiate action against the building owner, BBMP Commissioner B H Anil Kumar has said the BBMP legal cell would request the KAT to hear the case on a priority basis.
“All efforts will be made to vacate the stay order and take action against the building owner for violating building bylaws,’’ the BBMP Commissioner said.
Meanwhile, emphasizing the need of enforcing zonal norms, Rajya Sabha member Rajeev Chandrasekhar has said the BJP government led by B S Yeddyurappa would give top priority to stop commercialization of buildings in residential areas.
“It is the responsibility of the BBMP engineers to take stringent action against the building owner irrespective of who he/she is and how influenced he/she is,’’ said Rajeev Chandrasekhar.
