BENGALURU: After the illegal twin towers in Noida were demolished on Sunday, experts, citizens and officials say it should be an example that can be implemented in Bengaluru and Karnataka too.
A senior official from the Real Estate Regulatory Authority - Karnataka (Rera-K) said that many cases of unauthorised constructions are reported every day, inquiries are ordered, licences are also seized, but nothing moves beyond that. There is a need for more power to act on realtors, who are often hand-in-glove with politicians and influential people.
Citizens point out that the monsoon is the ideal time to show examples of illegal constructions and encroachments. While illegal structures are demolished after long court battles in other states, the Karnataka government is looking at implementing the Akrama-Sakrama scheme.
Srinivas Alavilli, head of Civic Participation, Janaagraha, said demolition has a great symbolic value for the rich and powerful, who think that rules don’t apply to them. Such stern steps will make them think twice. There are many illegal constructions on drains and public spaces carried out with political patronage, and should be dealt with in a similar manner.
“Implementation of Akrama-Sakrama is like accepting the mistakes and is not the right thing to do. It will have a tremendous impact as politics revolves around real estate,” he said.
Violations of all sorts are reported in Bengaluru, including the occupation of roads, footpaths, government plots, high-rise structures, lack of space between sites, encroachment of CA sites, BBMP and revenue lands, and many others. There are also cases like those in 110 villages that were given B-Khata for tax collection, but for sale, the sites are considered illegal as they do not have A-Khata.
Former Lokayukta Justice Vishwanath Shetty said there are brazen violations like encroachments on water bodies and drains, which should be demolished. Those on revenue lands should be dealt with practically.
A T Ramaswamy, author of the report on encroachment and illegal structures, said as per Supreme Court orders, illegal constructions on lakes, drains and water bodies should be demolished. But the Karnataka government lacks the will, and is finding it difficult to clear illegal constructions due to corruption, he said.
J P Nagar residents with their own Twin Towers issue await justice
Residents of the H M Tambourine apartment complex on Kanakapura Main Road celebrated the demolition of the Supertech Twin Towers in Noida on Sunday. The 240 families in this upscale residential complex have been grappling with a similar issue and had approached the High Court five years ago. A small gathering of residents cut a cake, which had the words ‘Justice always prevails’, to celebrate the illegal structures being razed.
Speaking on behalf of the residents, Abdul Aleem, a house owner and president of Changemakers of Kanakapura, said, “We were handed our flats in 2007, with space for constructing small commercial complexes, enveloped by greenery, left vacant. Our complex has four towers with a total of 240 houses. In 2017, H M Builders had approached BDA and got the plan modified so that they could construct two additional towers at the vacant space.”
Stunned apartment owners filed a case against the BDA the same year for approving the plan. The case is still on. The builder began construction work too, without seeking the consent of house owners, Aleem said.
“The original plan handed over to owners has been violated. In addition, the towers are built at just a distance of eight metres from our present towers. Building rules mandate a 16-metre distance,” he charged. The bigger issue is that the common area is the apartment complex was to be equally shared between all the owners.
“That has completely shrunk as 120 more flats will come up. Many hearings have taken place in connection with our case, but we are still awaiting justice,” he said. The builder could not be reached for comment.