Park and road lose out to multi-storeyed buildings

Park and road lose out to multi-storeyed buildings
Vijay Times

BANGALORE is fast emerging as a land grabbers’ paradise. If sources are to be believed, a big network of land grabbers has set its eyes on public properties in this Silicon City . These land sharks are always on the lookout for such properties.

These land grabbers, who have thrown all caution to winds, believe in the policy , "first grab land and then face the consequences.’ The latest property to fall prey to these sharks is a park in the 5th Block of Koramangala’s KHB Colony .

"The person, who has encroached a portion of the park by constructing a multi-storeyed building, identifies himself as the president of the Koramangala Civic Group . He has been ruining our peace in the area," residents alleged.

"The encroacher , using his position as the president of the civic group, has grabbed other pieces of land as well. The irony is that the same person, who has indulged in many cases of land grabbing, accuses others of the same. T o identify the real land grabbers, the Bangalore City Corporation (BCC) should make an honest effort," residents urged.

The park area, spread across 20,000 sq.ft, runs under a high tension wire in the colony and is estimated to cost around Rs 10 crore.

The site of the encroacher , who is planning to acquire the entire park area, is adjacent to the park, making his task much easier .

Nearly 20 to 30 feet of the park area has been reportedly encroached by a residential building, built on site no. 8/B.

Further , advertisement boards block the entrance to the park.

On the other side of the park, a commercial building, which residents claim is illegal, has come up on site no. A/6.

The building comprises a basement, ground floor and two upper floors.

"This complex, which has come up at a place marked for residential purposes, has occupied half the road area. This has resulted in a situation where we have no space for parking," residents rued.

In an other site (no. A/8) in the same lane, a commercial complex, that is reportedly not according to the building plan sanctioned, has come up. This has led to the footpath being encroached.

Similarly , in site no. A/8-1, a girls hostel, parts of which are reportedly not in accordance with the building plan sanctioned, has been constructed . This fivestoreyed building has taken away a considerable portion of the road stretch.

In addition, multi-storeyed buildings, alleged by the residents to be illegal structures, have come up on site nos. 22 and 23. "Y ou will be surprised to know that the person who claims to be the president of Civic Group is the master mind behind these encroachments. He has been buying sites in the name of his relatives. He has also threatened those opposing such illegal activities," the residents complained.

"Another site (no. 116/D), near the park, has also turned into a safe haven for the encroachers. They have been threatening the real owner of the site who refrains from stepping into his own property ," the residents claimed.



BCC CLARIFIES

When these activities of encroachment were brought to the notice of the senior officials in the BCC’s Engineering Department, they said, "A drive to identify buildings built in violation of the plans sanctioned is on. The problem in Koramangala’s KHB colony has come to our notice. In order to take up an investigation in this regard, we are trying to procure records from the Karnataka Housing Board. We have directed the officials of the Horticulture Department in the BCC to look into the encroachment of the park."

Park Site No Site No. A/6, A/7 Commercial building Ladies hostel built in violation of the building plan.