In the wake of the tragic fire incident that killed two persons in an apartment in South Bengaluru, the Bruhat Bengaluru Mahanagara Palike (BBMP) has woken up to the unchecked modifications to such dwellings and restricted the owners from renovating the balcony after obtaining the Occupancy Certificate (OC).
The civic body has also restricted any other renovations of an apartment which could compromise the safety of the building. Moreover, in case there is a requirement for such renovations, the apartment owners have to obtain permission from the BBMP.
In a circular, the BBMP stated that such renovations are not allowed, according to the Bangalore Building Byelaws-2003, Revised zonal regulations of 2015 and the National Building Code of India-2016.
The decision comes after Tuesday's tragedy, where two women were trapped in the fire-engulfed apartment in Bommanahalli as their balcony was closed off with grills. Authorities believe that at least one of the victims could have been saved had it not been for the grills.
“The apartments cannot have the complete balcony closed. It is against the rules. However, apartment units in many of the buildings resort to such practices after they obtain the OC. So far, we did not have a procedure to keep a check on buildings that renovate the balcony with such additions after obtaining the OC,” a senior official from the BBMP’s Town Planning Division told DH.
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