It is not the end for the demolition drive of the Bruhat Bangalore Mahanagara Palike (BBMP) to clear encroachments on a storm water drain in Ittamadu. The civic body has said that the drive will resume soon.
“The demolition drive in Ittamadu has been stopped till Thursday. We are now re-laying the portion of the storm water drain from which the encroachments have been cleared. We still have to clear encroachments on 20 feet length of the drain. We will take a decision on resuming the drive soon,” a senior BBMP official said.
Stating that in the second phase only sheds and huts had to be cleared, he said people have come forward to give away their properties.
Ittamadu residents are up in arms against the BBMP drive and have accused the civic body of turning a blind eye to a deviation in the storm water drain in front of Terrace Garden apartments.
Following their complaints, the Lokayukta has taken up suo motu cognisance of the issue and asked the BBMP to clarify.
However, the BBMP official said: “Our job is to clear encroachments on storm water drains. This area was included in the BBMP only in 1996. We have asked the Bangalore Urban deputy commissioner (DC) whether they had permitted any drain deviation in the area. The DC has said orally that no such deviation had been permitted. We don’t want to demolish everything just to instill confidence in public. We are waiting for a formal clarification from the DC.” The BBMP demolition drive in Ittamadu began on Thursday last and so far 12 of the 46 structures encroaching the storm water drain have been demolished.
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