High-rise plan scrapped, thanks to RTI

High-rise plan scrapped, thanks to RTI
TIMES NEWS NETWORK

Bangalore: Three years and a long struggle later, the wrong is corrected. And justice comes with a toast to the Right to Information Act. The BBMP, in an order passed on March 31, has suspended the plan sanction for an under-construction 14-storey apartment complex in I Block, Jayanagar.
C N Kumar, a resident of the area and member of First Block Organisation of Residents for Clean Environment (FORCE), has been fighting against the construction pointing out that the BMP had cleared the building plan without following National Building Code norms.
The NBC (Fire Protection) stipulates that roads leading to high-rise buildings have to be not less than 12 metres in width. The clause is in place to ensure that in case of a fire, the approach road has enough space for a fire engine to ply.
The property is located at the end of an elevated mountain road measuring about nine metres (maximum) in width. Another road running parallel on a lower level measures between eight and 12 metres in width. A bund — on top of BWSSB pipelines — falls in between the two roads. Kumar had used the RTI to collect information on the sanctioned plan and later expose the anomalies. He has been pointing out that in the plan, sanctioned by the Joint Director (Town Planning), BMP, the roads have been clubbed and the width taken as 19.3 metres.
The Times Of India had, in September 2006, highlighted the issue. The latest BBMP order follows a letter from Lok Ayukta Justice N Santosh Hegde to BBMP Commissioner S Subramanya in February, drawing attention to the discrepancies. “The site map provided by the chief engineer, BWSSB shows that the width of the mountain road tapers from 7.5 metres to 3.5 metres when it touches the property... the conclusion drawn by the JDTP and the Engineer-in-chief in deciding the width of the road as more than 12 metres is unfounded,’’ the Lok Ayukta wrote and called for suspension of permission to the project.
Kumar, reacting to the suspension, pointed out that appropriate action against the officials involved was awaited. The apartment complex is still under construction.
Building violated NBC norm. Two roads clubbed to meet stipulated width. RTI helped in exposing anomalies. Lok Ayukta intervention speeds up corrective action.