BBMP moves SC against survey of buildings

The BBMP has moved the Supreme Court against a high court order to carry out a survey to identify illegal buildings in Bengaluru for demolition.

The High Court of Karnataka had passed the order on its own on November 25, 2019.

On Tuesday, Additional Solicitor General K M Nataraj and advocate Sanjay M Nuli, representing the municipal body, mentioned the matter before a bench led by Chief Justice S A Bobde and sought an urgent hearing.

The bench agreed to consider the plea.

The civic body argued that the high court had passed the order even though the Supreme Court is still hearing a matter related to Akrama Sakrama, a government scheme to regularise illegal construction and the change of land use in towns and cities across the state.

In 2015, the BBMP had prepared a report on a survey that identified about 2.93 lakh unauthorised sites and buildings in Bengaluru.

There have been several amendments about the regularisation of buildings under the Karnataka Town and Country Planning Act, 1961, and the Karnataka Municipalities Act 1964, on the payment of requisite charges.

“There may be several obstacles that would prevent the corporation from completely demolishing the buildings as opportunities would have to be afforded to all the persons who have constructed any illegal structure,” the BBMP’s petition said.

Further difficulties may arise if the buildings were demolished now and the top court ruled in favour of regularising them later, the BBMP said.