BBMP starts building drain at Puttenahalli

BBMP starts building drain at Puttenahalli

Staff Reporter

Rs. 2 crore to be spent on building the new drain

BBMP says it will demolish all illegal buildings

BANGALORE: Having demolished 13 structures, including a five-storeyed building, on the “rajakaluve” in Puttenahalli, the Bruhat Bangalore Mahanagara Palike (BBMP) on Thursday started construction of a permanent RCC drain in the area.

A team of top officials led by the Joint Commissioner (Bommanahalli) Venkataramana Nayak camped in the area to supervise work.

A truck loads of sand, gravel and centering plates were unloaded on the vacant site on the 28th Main in Puttenahalli.
More buildings to go

The civic body, which is spending over Rs. 2 crore on putting up a drain along 1.5 km of the rajakaluve that has been cleared of encroachments, will on Friday start a revenue survey of more buildings that need to the razed for forming the drain.

Mr. Nayak told The Hindu that the drain would be constructed using modern technology and would be completed at the earliest.

“Two box drains will be put up on both sides of the road and the entire road will be covered with concrete slabs. This will prevent flooding in future,” he said.

He said all unauthorised structures would be pulled down.

When asked about an apartment belonging to an influential builder, Mr. Nayak said: “We are determined to demolish all unauthorised structures and will not yield to any pressure.”

Pointing out that five building owners had volunteered to demolish their structures themselves, Mr. Nayak said the drive would resume after the revenue survey was completed in the area.
Petition

Meanwhile, G. Lokanath, whose five-storeyed building in Anaiah Reddy Layout was demolished on Monday, told The Hindu that he would file a case in the Karnataka High Court against the BBMP.

“I have lost everything and my family has no place to stay. A generous friend has allowed us to stay in his house. We had taken a loan to construct the building and have not repaid even a single instalment to the bank.

The BBMP men did not give us time even to shift our belongings,” he said.

Although the affected residents are demanding compensation from the civic body, BBMP authorities have ruled out any such possibility.