BENGALURU: Owners of paying guest (PG) facilities in Bengaluru may get some relief as Bruhat Bengaluru Mahanagara Palike (BBMP) has decided to revise its proposed guidelines and extend the deadline for compliance.
A delegation of PG owners met special commissioner for health Suralkor Vikas Kishore recently and appealed to him to revise some of the guidelines, including the living space for inmates.
The owners stated that they should be allowed to have 35 square feet of room for an inmate like in state government-run hostels instead of the proposed 70 square feet. They asked the BBMP to adhere to the police department’s guideline to store CCTV footage for one month instead of the proposed 90 days.
”It appears that their concerns are valid and I will forward the same to the chief commissioner,” Kishore said.
The BBMP had issued a set of guidelines to be followed by owners of PG centres by September 15. It had stated that their buildings will be sealed if the guidelines are not followed by then. The guidelines such as 70 sqft space per person and storage of CCTV footage for 90 days were opposed by the PG owners’ welfare association.
Officials from the BBMP said with the guidelines likely to be revised, the deadline for compliance will be extended. Association president Arun Kumar said members from the association visited the wards of Victoria Hospital and also the rooms of some government-run hostels and shared their observations with the special commissioner.
“There are 20 beds and two bathrooms in a few wards of Victoria Hospital, which is in the BBMP limits. There are many BBMP hostels with similar facilities. The minimum space provided per person there is 20ftX14ft. We gave a representation to the special commissioner urging him to relax some of the guidelines and extend the deadline to follow them. The palike officials have agreed to our requests,” Kumar said.
He said the proposed guidelines will impact poor students from rural areas who find it difficult to pay even Rs 5,000 as rent. The owners will be forced to increase the rent if the proposed guidelines are introduced, he said.
The palike officials have also agreed to renew and issue new licences to run PG facilities in residential areas, he added.