BENGALURU: Two days after the Karnataka government’s draft notification was put out, regularising 15 per cent building deviation from the sanctioned plan in the five city corporations under Greater Bengaluru Authority (GBA), civic forums call the move outright discrimination against owners following building bylaws, and providing a ‘helping hand’ to violators.
“Constitutional rights, like light and ventilation, are blocked due to violation of bylaws. The decision is against the Supreme Court stay on Akrama Sakrama in 2017, and also the Supreme Court guidelines against deviation and unauthorised construction in 2024, and more importantly, against the 74th Amendment provisions that give powers to local bodies to take such decisions,” said R Rajagopalan from Bengaluru Coalition.
Echoing him, MK Sridharan, coordinator of Civic Solutions, said the draft notification is an example of bad governance on the part of the legislature and executive. “If the decision goes to court, it may not stand a chance of scrutiny under the law.”
CN Kumar of FORCE, Jayanagar Residents’ Welfare Association, pointed out that the decision will lead to extreme densification of urban areas. He stated that the people who follow rules are not taken into consideration, and GBA is only helping the law violators. “Not a single case has been booked against engineers for failure of law enforcement. After the SC order in 2024, a lot of buildings are not getting Occupancy Certificate, and with this relaxation, many such buildings will be accommodated. There is talk now that even bigger buildings with violations will be given relaxations in the coming days. Where is this going to end?” rued Kumar.
The government and GBA defend the decision, saying the move would benefit around 3 lakh property owners who are waiting for Occupancy Certificates, with violations of over 5 per cent.
“The move will help 30x40 sqft site owners as deviations will get regularised. At the same time, government coffers will also get filled as the owners will pay a penalty -- Rs 50,000 is fixed per square metre based on the guidance value. The relaxation applies to deviation of up to 15 per cent for buildings under 15metres (49.2ft) tall on plots up to 500sqm (5382sqft), and 5 per cent for buildings over 15metres on plots above 500sqm. If the deviation is only within the permissible limit, it will be allowed for regularisation with a penalty,” said a senior official.
Former ministers and opposition MLAs Dr CN Ashwath Narayan and K Gopalaiah stressed that no future violation should be allowed, and
the laws should become stringent. Owners buy plots and construct buildings in violation of bylaws, it is the responsibility of the system to stop such construction. “Can the government go and demolish so many buildings now? More than bylaw violators, the government should fix the responsibility on officials,” said Ashwath Narayan.
Mahalakshmi Layout MLA K Gopalaiah said the decision is fair enough, but benefits hardly 5 per cent of violators. Across Karnataka, there are nearly 8 lakh such buildings. “Will these buildings also get relaxations from the government? The violation happened because of the failure of engineers. Had the engineers come and checked during the initial stage of construction, the owners would not have resorted to deviations,” said Gopalaiah.