Amid high drama and tension, revenue officials of the BBMP on Monday pulled down the shutters and sealed three branches of different banks and a post office for failing to clear the rental arrears of a total Rs4.55 crore.
The presence of policemen created curiosity among the visitors in the morning itself as the BBMP officials swooped down. Perhaps inspired by the BDA’s recent drive at its various commercial complexes against the tenants who defaulted payment of rentals for years, the BBMP revenue officials embarked on sealing premises of defaulters at Netaji Subhash Chandra Bose complex (Public Utility Building) on MG Road, near Mayo Hall.
Revenue officer BN Jagadeesh, flanked by a posse of policemen, sealed the branches of State Bank of Mysore and Apex Bank and a post office. Jagadeesh had to be content with sealing Vijaya Bank’s ATM and not its branch as the bank employees had arrived before the arrival of the BBMP staff and policemen.
Tension and confusion prevailed when Jagadeesh and the policemen asked the bank staff to vacate the premises. “I am doing my duty as per the BBMP commissioner’s directive. I will wait here till further orders from the commissioner,” Jagadeesh said.
The BBMP seal on the post office surprised the employees who arrived at 10 am to attend duty. “We had received a letter from the BBMP a few days ago and we had sent it to our higher authorities. We never expected the BBMP to seal the post office,” said C Shashikala, postmaster.
About 300 people visit the post office on weekdays and its closure caused a lot of inconvenience to them. “This is the only post office that caters to the needs of people visiting Mayo Hall and Netaji Subhash Chandra Bose Complex,” said Shashikala.
She said the postal department has been paying Rs1,118 towards rent per month to the BBMP, but the civic body has been sending notices for the revision of rent.
“The BBMP has sent a notice, demanding increasing the rent to Rs40,000 from Rs1,118. We want to pay the rent on par with other tenants who had agreed to double the current rent,” she said.
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