BENGALURU: Residents of Ramagondanahalli have alleged that some under-construction buildings in the area have grossly violated several building by-laws, and fear they will face problems if these structures are allowed to be constructed.
The buildings are located along a road that is only 30 feet wide. Residents allege that the five buildings have no parking provisions and no setback either in front or between the buildings. In addition, one of the buildings has five storeys, but as per Bruhat Bengaluru Mahanagara Palike (BBMP) officials, only three floors are allowed beside a 30 feet road. Residents who have complained are from Victorian View Layout. They say that if the construction is allowed, the only road leading to their layout will get obstructed.
Shanthi Chandola, a resident, said a complaint was first lodged with BBMP officials in November 2017. However, little was done by the BBMP and the residents continued to pursue the complaint. It was only in August that the Palike forced the builders to stop the construction work, Chandola said.
“However, work on the building was again started in September. We can see that the interiors have been painted and they have fixed the grills. So we filed another complaint with the officials,” Chandola added.
Residents of the layout also say they have received veiled threats from the builder’s acquaintances. Chandola said people unknown to them have asked the residents concerned to stop their efforts against the construction. When the said residents refused, the people reportedly indicated that houses in the layout were also in violation of the by-laws, and that they would lodge complaints against the same.
Assistant executive engineer of the Hagadur ward Vijay Kumar said that last week he had written to the executive engineer of the ward, asking for permission to demolish the building, but had not received a response yet. Vijay Kumar confirmed that BBMP had issued notices for the construction work to be stopped. “If work has resumed again, I will send an engineer to check and get it stopped,” he said.
When asked about the allegations, the builder Suresh Gowda said, “I will not speak about my building, but I will say this — I have constructed the buildings in exactly the way other buildings in the rest of Bengaluru have been constructed.” He said that if the BBMP gave a notice to demolish it, he would approach the court asking why no action had been taken against other builders in the rest of the city.
“What about the houses of those who have lodged the complaints? Do they have all the sanctions?” he asked.On residents’ concerns regarding parked vehicles blocking the road, Gowda said, “I can ensure that no cars will be parked on the roads as I plan to rent out the place for a girls’ PG. He alleged that residents of Victorian View Layout too parked their vehicles on the road.