BENGALURU: "Why is BBMP targeting DVG Road? There are hardly any residential buildings on this road.”
This is the refrain of the traders who have got closure notices.
The Bruhat Bengaluru Mahanagara Palike (BBMP) has issued closure notices to more than 100 commercial establishments on the iconic DVG Road in Gandhi Bazaar as the 30-feet-wide road comes under residential category.
As per BBMP’s Master Plan 2015, DVG Road, named after noted Kannada writer and philosoper D V Gundappa, is a main residential zone. Further, according to land use regulations, no commercial activity can be done in main residential areas if the width of the road is less than 40 feet. DVG Road is less than 30 feet wide.
However, for the past many decades, the road has transformed into a commercial area.
In December last year, a public notice was issued by BBMP Commissioner N Manjunath Prasad which stated that commercial activities in residential buildings violate the revised Master Plan 2015 and zoning regulations. “Such violation is causing obstruction for free flow of traffic, nuisance and disturbance to public peace and also problems to dwellers in residential areas. Hence, Palike is constrained to take steps in closing unauthorised and illegal commercial activities being run in residential areas,’’ the notice stated.
BBMP even gave time for the shopkeepers to shut their businesses.
When contacted, Dr Manoranjan Hegde, Health officer (South Zone), said that as per the zone regulation and Comprehensive Development Plan 2015, any road whose width is 30 feet or less, has been categorised as a residential road. He said that after they issued notices, the local traders’ association submitted a memorandum which states that many of them were running their shops from much before 2007. “We are taking legal opinion before vacating them,” he said.
Basavanagudi Traders Association president and JD(S) MLC T A Saravana, who owns Sai Gold Palace on DVG Road, said there are more than 400 commercial shops in Gandhi Bazaar. “I have not received any notice from BBMP. But some traders on DVG Road have got it. It is the BBMP which has given them trade licences, sanctioned their commercial plans, and traders have been paying tax accordingly. How can the civic authority issue notices like this?’’ he said.
Saravana and other traders are meeting legal experts. He said many commercial hubs in Bengaluru like Malleswaram, Commercial Street and Avenue Road have roads that are not wider than 30 feet. “Why are they targeting DVG Road alone?’’ he asked. A trader who runs a small bag business said BBMP has not issued notices to many who are influential.
‘It became commercial in late 1980s’
Historian Arun Prasad said Basavanagudi was formed as an extension of Chamarajpet in 1898 after plague struck in 1896. In the earlier days, commercial establishments were located only on Gandhi Bazaar Main Road and people would take DVG Road to reach here. “It was a small road then but started transforming into a commercial one in the 1980s,” said Prasad.