Indiranagar residents protest upcoming bar, allege violations

Staging a massive protest to stop a bar-cum-brewery from opening in the largely residential locality, Indiranagar residents have charged that the 'Playboy Beer Garden' has violated regulations.

Agitating citizens point to the Indiranagar Methodist Church on the 100 Feet Road, bang opposite the upcoming bar, as evidence of a major breach of building laws. "There can't be a more brazen violation than this. You can see the church from the bar," one of the protesters, Indira Vishwanathan, said.

Residents also said that the bar has flouted the building plan approval and did not have a trade licence. "The building plan approval shows that the basement is the parking area that can hold six cars," BM Kaval Residents' Welfare Association president Sneha Nandihal said. "All we see now are the machines for  the brewery."

No violation: owner  

Building owner Ashok Dunichand Khitri denied having violated any regulation.

"I abide by the laws and I have the papers to prove it," he said. "How can I construct an illegal building on the main road? There are also bars adjacent to ours. Why don't they (residents) question them?"

Khitri also said the bar has double-height parking.

But residents are not convinced. Sneha pointed out that the bar has come up in a place where previously a residence existed.

"This is a litmus test for the city," another resident said.

Protesters also claim that the building owner is so powerful that he is threatening to transfer the joint commissioner of the area if he refuses to grant a trade licence for the bar.

Bruhat Bengaluru Mahanagara Palike Commissioner N Manjunath Prasad said he will ask officials to check the building. "We'll demolish the building if violations are found," he assured.

Meanwhile, the church and the  New Horizon Public School, both of which are situated near the bar, have expressed opposition to the opening of the establishment.