Residents protest against conversion of residential sites for commercial purpose

Residents protest against conversion of residential sites for commercial purpose

The Hindu

BANGALORE: They left the inner city and built homes in the suburbs only to find that they have to again face the noise and air pollution of heavy traffic and growth of too many commercial establishments all around them.

Like many residents' associations, the Banashankari 2nd Stage Welfare Association is dominated by senior citizens who gravitate to the suburbs, post retirement. The problem here is conversion of what were residential sites for commercial purposes, according to the association vice-president, G.S. Gundu Rao, and joint secretary, G. Thiruvengadam.

As the planning authority with power granted under the Karnataka Town and Country Planning Act, 1961, the BDA is authorised to allow changes in land use "provided all such changes are in public interest and do not contravene provisions of the Act."

"The public interest factor seems to have been ignored by the BDA in regard to the conversion of a number of residential sites. We looked into the records with some difficulty after using the Karnataka Right to Information Act and found that on the 24th Cross of BSK 2nd Stage alone five residential sites have been permitted to be converted into commercial sites. In one of those sites a multi-storeyed building has come up in violation of building bylaws," Mr. Gundu Rao said.

In the case of commercial developments on 24th Cross, the residents pointed out that the road already had a two-storeyed BDA shopping complex. This could have been enlarged to accommodate more business establishments. Another was the licence given to a "party hall" on the same road. Mr. Gundu Rao claimed that though the licences for the party hall expired on March 31 and was not extended, it still continued to be used for functions. The association said it had approached the Deputy Commissioner (South) of BMP about such indiscriminate conversion of residential sites and constructions that violated rules. It would be better for the BMP to monitor all commercial buildings at the construction stage itself and stop any violations. Apart from notifying conversions in the media and calling for objections, the BDA should also seek objections from the immediate neighbours, he said.