Four illegal buildings demolished

Four illegal buildings demolished

The Hindu

BMP continues drive against illegal constructions in Koramangala


BANGALORE: The Bangalore Mahanagara Palike (BMP) on Thursday demolished four unauthorised buildings in Koramangala 3rd and 5th blocks.

This operation is part of the drive launched by the BMP following a direction from the Karnataka High Court in November last.

Soon after the court direction, the BMP had brought down four buildings in Koramangala 5th Block. But it had to go slow because of protests by residents.

The High Court had directed the BMP to conduct an extensive survey of buildings in Koramangala, following a public interest litigation petition stating that residential buildings, built against bylaws, were being used for commercial purposes in violation of zoning regulations.

The BMP while undertaking the survey had clarified that certain categories of commercial use such as restaurants, grocery and general stores and laundries could be operated in residential zones but not others.

In Koramangala, several buildings were found to house firms related to information technology (IT) and IT-enabled services such as business process outsourcing.

The BMP Joint Commissioner (East) N. Jayaram told The Hindu on Thursday that the drive would continue on Friday. "We have identified over 100 buildings that have been built in violation of building bylaws and served notices on the owners. Action will be taken against all such buildings. But there is scope for regularising the deviated portions of some buildings. We will consult the High Court in this connection," he said.

A few residents said a top official of a software company located in one of the demolished buildings suffered a heart attack after the building was razed. Following this, the residents raised slogans against the BMP.

The BMP Chief Engineer (East) Gopal Swamy said the demolitions were carried out with the help of police.

Over 100 personnel from the Bangalore Metropolitan Task Force (BMTF) carried out the operation with assistance from three battalions of the Karnataka State Reserve Police (KSRP) and 200 policemen.

As many as five earthmovers and 15 compressors were used for the drive.