BENGALURU: Five resident welfare associations of Lavelle Road, Vittal Mallya Road, Kasturba Cross Road and D’souza Layout areas have written a complaint letter to MLA of Shantinagar constituency, Haris and concerned BBMP engineers regarding two illegal commercial establishments in the central business district area (CBD). MLA said he’s received the complaints and has asked BBMP to take action in case of any violations.
One of the residents Maria M said, “One of the unnamed establishments is under construction on Vittal Mallya Road and the other, Atomic Lab on Lavelle Road was opened a few days ago. They both do not have any facility for parking which is a violation of the BBMP bye-laws. With the existing pubs, bars and lounges not having sufficient parking facilities, customers park their cars and bikes in front of our homes.” “We frequent these places too but they need to follow the laws,” she added.
An excerpt of the complaint letter reads, “Atomic Lab is spread over the second and third floor, with the last floor being the terrace. There is only a single staircase which is 37 inches in width. This poses a safety hazard in cases of fire or other accidents in the building. The basement has a florist shop instead of parking facility.”
The other issue highlighted in the complaint letter about the establishment under-construction is lack of setback space between the compound wall and the building. The residents say they met NA Haris on October 26 to discuss the matter.
Commenting on the same, MLA Haris said, “I have received the complaint and asked the concerned BBMP officials to take action against these establishments.”When asked about the action taken, AEE Vijayanand of Shantala Nagar, said, “We sent a notice to these two places a few days ago. They should get back to us by Monday with their building plan, documents such as occupancy certificate and trade licence. We will verify the permissions, check on the construction and will take action accordingly.”
Siddarth Thomas, another resident of the area, said, “The BBMP and owners of these establishments keep passing the buck to one another with issuing of notices. Why were they given permissions if they had no proper parking facility? Traffic jams happen on Lavelle Road every day since this place opened up. They have also placed their generator on the sidewalk.”
Owner of Atomic Lab, Karthik said, “We have not received any notice from the BBMP. We got all the necessary documents and permissions required to open this space. We arrange parking facility in UB City and on nearby roads in the vicinity.”