Owners panic as BBMP seeks apartment documents at short notice

A notice issued by the Bruhat Bengaluru Mahanagara Palike (BBMP) to at least 1,112 houses and apartments in RR Nagar to submit building plans has triggered panic among apartment communities across Bengaluru. Although the civic body had a full three months to conduct a survey of buildings that have violated bylaws, officials appear to have woken up just four days before the court’s next hearing scheduled on Tuesday.

According to the notice issued in RR Nagar on March 11, the building or apartment owners have been directed to submit documents such as building sketch, khata certificate, commencement certificate, occupancy certificate and property tax payment receipt within three days. The notice goes on to state that the BBMP will conduct a joint measurement of the buildings on March 15 in case no documents are submitted by then.

The civic body has also warned that the buildings would be deemed illegal under the BBMP Act, 2020, if the property owners fail to provide documents during site inspection.

The one-page notice has triggered panic.

M S Shankar, General Secretary of Forum for People’s Collective Efforts, said that the three-day deadline is unreasonable.

“The BBMP issued these notices without providing any details. The short notice has created unnecessary panic. Three days are not enough to submit the documents. Some apartments may have to consult lawyers,” he said.

Vikram Rai of Bangalore Apartments Federation said they have asked apartments to respond seeking more time instead of keeping quiet.

“The BBMP is not asking for simple documents. The builder may not have handed over some of these documents to property owners. Readying them takes time,” he said.

Some of the apartment dwellers were of the view that the BBMP was preparing the survey in hurry just for the sake of following high court orders. During the last hearing in December, the BBMP had promised to submit the report on illegal constructions on March 15. A senior BBMP official confirmed that they issued short notice ahead of the court hearing.

“We were only expecting a short reply,” he said.

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