BENGALURU: Asking the state government to take appropriate action against the Bruhat Bengaluru Mahanagara Palike (BBMP) if it fails to accept the findings of the Fire Department in relation to KR Market, the Karnataka High Court on Thursday issued a series of directions to the civic body to take up safety measures.
Directing the BBMP to inform it if the city market building is structurally sound, the court asked the civic agency to give an outer limit of the time it would take to rectify the lapses.
“We hope BBMP takes the lapses seriously as over 1,200 shops, including 503 in the upper basement, are located in KR Market,” said a division bench of Chief Justice Abhay Shreeniwas Oka and Justice SR Krishna Kumar.
The court also directed the Joint Commissioner (West Division) to file an affidavit by December 10 on the objections raised by the Fire Department. The affidavit should contain details such as whether any plan was approved for the market, and if yes, a copy of the plan should be submitted to the court.
The JC was also directed to specify whether there are squatters, or if anyone is using open spaces of the complex and the action taken against them, if any.
In addition, the JC should also inform the court whether the shops were allotted through lease and whether these were subleased.
According to the directives of the court, the BBMP should not allot shops without permission of the court, till further orders. If BBMP fails to submit the affidavit by December 10, action for contempt of court will be initiated, the court said, adjourning the hearing to December 13.