HC orders BMTF to file report on Begur-Horamavu Road

The High Court on Thursday directed the Bangalore Metropolitan Task Force (BMTF) to file a report on whether the widening of Begur-Hulimavu Road in front of an apartment, being constructed by DLF Southern Homes Private Limited and Suadela Constructions Private Limited, is completed or not.

A division bench comprising acting Chief Justice S K Mukherjee and Justice Arvind Kumar passed an order hoping that the road shall be completed within three weeks.

The petitioner, Anil Agarwal, has contended that the width of the road to the apartment, being constructed on Begur-Hulimavu main road, is only 9.6 meters.
Accordingly, only four floors can be constructed as per the FAR (floor area ratio).

Anticipating the approval, the builders swung into action to widen the road from existing 9.6 meters to 24 meters. While the Comprehensive Development Plan approved widening of Begur-Hulimavu Road by 18 metres, which permitted only 18 floors as per the new FAR, the BDA permitted the DLF to construct 30 floors.

The widening of a 24-metre wide road would have resulted in encroaching upon the stormwater drain, government land and some private property too.

 During the hearing, the BBMP counsel submitted that the construction of the road is in full swing and expected to be completed within three weeks.  The bench directed the BMTF to submit the report in the next hearing on November 26.

The case first figured in 2012 when the BMTF registered an FIR against the BDA officials and grilled some of the former commissioners for giving their nod. The petitioner has made senior IAS officers Bharat Lal Meena, K M Shivakumar, Pradeep Singh Kharola, the BDA, the BBMP and the State government respondents in this case.

‘Publicise guidelines’

The High Court on Thursday directed the State government to give wide publicity, through newspapers, to the draft guidelines on ‘comprehensive policy on safety of schoolchildren’.  While hearing a bunch of petitions, filed by several school managements, Justice Anand Byrareddy observed that just publishing in the government website is not sufficient, to get public opinion, the government should give adequate publicity on the policy.

The Karnataka State Minorities Educational Institutions Managements Federation and others have filed petitions seeking clarity on the guidelines issued in safety of schoolchildrens as there were conflicting guidelines issued by different departments of the State government.

The State government said that they have to get the Cabinet approval after getting public opinion about the guidelines.  The bench directed the State government to publish the policy that it frames, get the public opinion and the approval from the cabinet and adjourned the hearing after two weeks.