Engineer slams notice on activist, she sees act of vengeance

In what appears to be an act of vengeance, an Assistant Executive Engineer (AEE) of Bruhat Bengaluru Mahanagara Palike has served a ‘building plan violation’ notice to an elderly woman Satya Achayya.

Incidentally, Satya Achayya is one of the petitioners to file public interest litigation in the Karnataka High Court against the rampant building plan violations.

The AEE served the notice based on two RTI applications filed by Syed Sanaulla and Syed Javid Khadir. The duo filed identical RTI applications on a single day seeking the sanctioned building plan and licence for construction of house number 17, owned by Satya Achayya, located on 6 Cross, Nandidurga Extension, Jayamahal in the City.

Based on the RTI query, the AEE has asked Achayya to submit the licence and the sanctioned building plan within three days of receiving the notice or else he will be forced to act against her under the Karnataka Municipal Corporation (KMC) Act.

No new construction

Baffled by the tone and tenor of the notice, Achayya replied to the notice stating that the building was constructed by her late father K C Achayya in the 1960s and since then there has been no construction activity on the property. Elaborating further, she said, “As such, the house was constructed before the KMC Act, 1976 came into force.”Achayya in her letter to the AEE further stated, “The two RTI queries you have attached to your notice do not state that any construction is going on in the property.”

 “It is surprising that your office has issued this notice to me merely on the basis of the two RTI requests, without inspecting the site or otherwise making a finding that construction is indeed going on at my property,” she added.

Making a sarcastic remark, Achayya said, “BBMP’s diligence in the matter of the two RTI applications is admirable. Instead of harassing a senior citizen, who has constantly been reporting major byelaw violations all over Benson Town since 2009, I suggest you to inspect the area and serve notices to all the violators.”