The Bruhat Bangalore Mahanagara Palike (BBMP) may have gone to town in implementing its drive against encroachments that have come up on storm water drains.
But the civic body’s act in pulling down a portion of a residence in Ittamadu on Thursday last, has in one fell swoop left the house owner’s life in tatters.
Harish Kumar BS, a businessman, a portion of whose house was demolished for having encroached upon a storm water drain, has sent his marital dreams crashing, as the girl’s family has backed out from the marriage that was proposed to be conducted on December 7.
The girl’s parents saw the demolition of a major portion of Harish Kumar’s house as a taint that can never be undone.
“The bride’s parents are unwilling to go ahead with the marriage, due to this demolition,” Harish rued.
“I pleaded with BBMP officers to give me just four hours within which I would have got the walls machine cut and only the encroached part would have been cleared. But they were rude and the JCB ended up pulling down three rooms of the house and most of these were not encroachments at all,” said Harish Kumar, who is now thinking of shifting to another house.
The BBMP demolition drive in Ittamadu began on Thursday and so far 12 of the 46 structures encroaching the storm water drain have been demolished.
Chandrashekhar is another resident who has lost his entire house to the demolition drive. “Mine was a two-storey building worth Rs35 lakh. You need a lifetime’s investment to build a house. What do I do now?” laments Chandrashekhar, who was not even given enough time to remove the furniture from the house.
“No notice was issued to any of us prior to the demolition,” he claimed.
M Krishnan, who runs a saloon shop, has lost his entire building. “Why did they not object to my building till date? How were these sites sold if they were encroachments?
Why were they accepting tax all these days?” he said.
The residents of Ittamadu approached the Lokayukta on Thursday, as soon as the demolition drive started. “There is a deviation in the storm water drain in front of Terrace Garden apartments. How has this deviation been allowed in a Rajakaluve?” they asked.
Srikante Gowda, executive engineer, Padmanabha Nagar ward, told DNA that the BBMP stopped its demolition drive in Ittamadu on Saturday. “The Lokayukta has asked us to submit a report on the demolition drive. We will be submitting the report shortly,” he said.
Storm over the drain
According to Srikante Gowda, executive engineer, Padmanabha Nagar ward, the BDA has sanctioned the plan for Terrace Garden apartments and has not mentioned anything about the drain. “We have asked the BDA for clarification,” Srikante Gowda said.
“The F-block of Terrace Garden apartments will be demolished if the violation is proved,” he asserted.
“Ittamadu residents have nothing against Terrace Garden apartments. But the demolition started only with the removal of houses of middle class and poor people, while the the Terrace Garden apartments remained untouched. Where is the action plan of BBMP?
What if they need to increase the width of the drain after 10 years? Will they go on a demolition spree again? Let the BBMP call for a meeting with the residents. We are ready to co-operate with the BBMP if there really are encroachments. But in 90% of the alleged encroachments, there is no prima facie case at all,” Renuka said.
Terrace Garden apartment owners have been told by their Delhi-based builders, Unitech, that the municipality had approved the construction.
TS Viswanathan, president, Terrace Garden Residents’ Association said:“According to our builder, there is no violation in the construction. Even if the BBMP widens the storm water drain up to 15 feet, our structures won’t be affected. The F block was also constructed along with other blocks in accordance with the sanctioned plan.”
The worried Ittamadu residents now want the chief minister to intervene.
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