Permission for apartment complex withdraw

Permission for apartment complex withdrawn

Staff Reporter
It was to have come up in Jayanagar 1st Block
Lokayukta report points out loopholes in the sanction

The property is between a reservoir and the main line

BANGALORE: Permission given for a high-rise apartment in Jayanagar 1st Block has been withdrawn by the Bruhat Bangalore Mahanagara Palike (BBMP) following a Lokayukta report that not only asked the Government to withdraw permission but has also castigated officials for according approval against the rules.

A Lokayukta report had pointed out at glaring loopholes while issuing permission to build a 14-floor apartment by Bysani Developers without verifying the road width and abutting property. The Coordinator of First Block Organisation of Residents for Clean Environment (FORCE) B.L.G. Rao and C.N. Kumar, a resident of Jayanagr 1st Block had filed complaints in June, July and August 2007 against the grant of permission. The report that was sent to the Urban Development Department seeking action had noted that the property was located along a narrow road in between the existing ground-level reservoirs in the north and the water supply mains running along the southern and eastern sides of the property, close to Madhavan Park and Byrasandra.

Bye-laws violated
Permission was not in consonance with the zoning regulations and building bye-laws, approved by the Government, as also the National Building Code, the report said. Further, the report states that the decision of the then BBMP Commissioner and opinion of the Director of Town Planning while issuing permission was against the rules.

The Bangalore Water Supply and Sewerage Board chairman and chief engineer have failed to safeguard the BWSSB property, the report said and added that the officials had acted with the only intention of issuing permission. They (officials) have not discharged duties like government officials, according to the report.