Charm of Jayanagar under threat? Illegal buildings come up on BBMP land

The charm of Jayanagar, a sprawling residential locality with wide roads and footpaths, is under threat. Defying the court and the government orders, the BBMP has allowed the construction of illegal buildings on public land that was left vacant for planting saplings and parking vehicles. What’s more, the illegal construction is taking place at a stone’s throw away distance from the office of the BBMP’s south zone.

The violations pertain to Jayanagar 2nd Block (along 8 and 10 crossroads). Buildings are being expanded onto the vacant land, which belongs to the BBMP. When DH visited the locality on Tuesday, portions of at least four under-construction buildings were standing tall on the public property, reducing the width of the footpath. Around the BBMP office and in front of the park, there were a few older buildings with similar violations.

Most of these encroachers – who are trying to use the vacant land for commercial purposes – are those who were allotted the sites by the erstwhile City Improvement Trust Board (CITB) when the layout was formed in 1948.

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Documents show that their request to use the margin land (which falls between their building and the road) for private purposes was rejected by the High Court and subsequently, an order was passed by the state government in 2006. A year later, the BBMP council also passed a resolution to retain the land with the civic body for various purposes. When the assistant revenue officer of Hombegowda Nagar ward tried to issue khata in 2012, his higher-ups again turned down the requests, citing various orders.

Jagadish Naik, joint commissioner of BBMP’s south zone said he was aware of the complaint and promised to take action.

Local residents say the BBMP has been ignoring their complaints despite submitting written requests several times. “The officers, who are paid to enforce various orders, allow illegal construction without any fear. An inquiry should be conducted and concerned officers must be suspended as the government did in the case of RR Nagar scams,” a local resident said.

Due to the encroachment of BBMP land and poor design of footpaths that do not have space for parking, those visiting the BBMP office and the parkgoers are seen leaving their vehicles on the road, disrupting the vehicle movement.