The controversial draft common zoning regulations, which will allow commercial use of land on all roads that are 29.5 feet or wider, received over 6,000 objections being submitted by citizen groups and resident welfare associations alone.
A total of 10,000 objections were filed till Saturday afternoon, with only a few days left till the deadline to file responses expires. On Friday, a group of 337 resident welfare associations (RWAs) handed over objection letters with more than 1,000 signatures urging the government not to go ahead with the draft notification.
“Today, RWAs and citizens of Indiranagar and Koramangala among others have filed objections in a large number,” said Sridhar Pabbisetty, chief executive officer of Namma Bengaluru Foundation (NBF). Volunteers helping with the process said that around 2,000 signatures had been gathered from Indiranagar alone. “We estimate that around 6,000 were filed through NBF and various RWAs today. Many more would have sent their objections by post to the department. We also met the Deputy Director of Town and Country Planning Department Shantala S. and voiced our opposition,” said Sneha Nandihal, President of the BM Kaval RWA in Indiranagar 1st Stage.
“It has been established beyond doubt that the Master Plan 2015 has been violated with specific regard to residential areas. Under these circumstances, the priority should be to focus on implementation mechanisms rather than bringing out new ad hoc rules,” one of the objections states.
The list of objections to the proposed regulations state that the notification was against the 74thAmendment that provides for planning to be undertaken by the Metropolitan Planning Committee or the municipal body and not by the state government. The objections also state that the “right to life” of residents of the city would be challenged because of commericialisation, which is a violation of public trust.