VVIPs force Govt. hand

ovt all set to regularise illegal structures in B
VVIPs force Govt. hand
The government is all set to forgive and forget people who have violated building bye-laws like exceeding the sanctioned plan area. All you need to do, if you are guilty, is to pay a penalty.

The move comes close on the heels of a drive for demolition of illegal structures in HSR layout and Koramangala, which house residential and commercial buildings owned by legislators and VVIPs.

The question is, has the government yielded to pressure from these VVIPs and readily accepted their suggestion to regularise such structures? When the BBMP and BDA resorted to demolition in these posh areas, the drive attracted widespread protest and Chief Minister Kumaraswamy himself rushed to the spot to pacify the protesters, promising them some remedy.

The upshot: Kumaraswamy directed the officials to regularise illegal structures at a high level meeting held here on Friday at his home office.

The decision was taken after a detailed discussion with officials of the Muncipal Administration Department, BBMP and Urban Development department.

The Chief Minister gave one month’s time to the officials to bring a government order in this regard.

The officials later told this paper that the government plans to extend the regularisation scheme to other cities also. Though it is been officially said that the decision was taken on humanitarian grounds, it is being seen as a political move to woo voters in the urban areas, with the urban local body elections in the offing.

A former revenue department official said that BBMP over the years had been facing failure in almost all its demolition drives due to repeated litigation by other parties. So such a decision was inevitable. However, the scheme seems to be beneficial to BBMP as the scheme fetches it revenue. . Because all these years, many areas surrounding the city (now under BBMP) were availing facilities without paying revenue. Now with the regularisation drive on, all unauthorised constructions in newly added CMCs and TMC would be set right and also it will curb the popping up of more such illegal constructions.

“I don’t think this would affect the city development. Because under the ‘Regularisation of Unauthorised Constructions in Urban Areas Act’ (which comes under Land Revenue Act) those unauthorised constructions which are affecting public space will be taken out and will not be regularised anywhere in the city vicinity,” the officer explained.

K S Naveen, an environmentalist, sees a great threat to public space and greenery which is already vanishing in the garden city. “Whether it is 25 per cent or 50 per cent, if any encroachment is affecting lung spaces in the city, the effect would be drastic in future. I feel that the government should be very clear in dealing with the little greenery and public space available in the city.” It has been decided to regularise 50 per cent violations of the residential buildings and 25 per cent violations of the commercial buildings.

The guidance value of the building in 2005 will be considered as the base for imposing penalty.