Residents of Banashankari 2nd Stage on Monday slammed the sealing of commercial buildings by Bruhat Bangalore Mahanagara Palike (BBMP) on charges of building bye-law violations.
Speaking to reporters, members of the Banashankari 2nd Stage Welfare Association led by president H M Nanjundaiah termed the sealing as “drastic and hasty” considering that the amendment to the Karnataka Town Planning (Regularisation of unauthorised development or constructions) Rules 2007 and Bangalore Development Authority’s (BDA) Masterplan 2015 are on the cards.
The residents said the BBMP had last week sealed three commercial buildings on 24th Cross, charging that the buildings didn’t have completion/occupancy certificates. “We are requesting the government to let completed structures be. They can be regularised by slapping the stipulated penalty on the builders concerned,” Jairam, a member of the associations’ executive committee, told Deccan Herald.

Commercialisation
G Thiruvengadam, secretary of the association, pointed out that cases with regard to building bye-law violations in the area were still pending before the court. “Ours has been a residential area but with time, requirements of a residential area change. The area has not witnessed massive commercialisation and many of these commercial buildings, in essence, serve as public utilities like banks and educational institutions,” Srikantaiah, another member of the committee, said.
The residents said categorising the area as residential in its entirety was illogical and reasoned that considering that the area had good bus connectivity, rise of commercial establishments was only expected.
The period to file objections and suggestions with regard to the amendment of the rules is over. The draft rules stipulate regularisation of residential and commercial buildings with 50 per cent and 25 per cent deviation respectively. The residents have requested for a 50 per cent cut-off for commercial buildings as well. They have also demanded that the regularisation - both in terms of Floor Area Ratio and setback - be taken up based on the new BDA Masterplan.