The civic body has launched a drive against commercial establishments violating zonal regulations in residential areas and is preparing for another one to free basements — that are often occupied by shops — for parking. These are two major violations that the BBMP has had little success in stamping down on.
D. Randeep, Special Commissioner, Health and SWM, BBMP spearheading both drives, said a majority of the commercial establishments violating norms don’t have trade licences and hence won’t be served any notice for closure.
“We are not obliged to serve notices. We have directly begun shutting down establishments,” he said. Sources said this was to avoid people running these commercial establishments from approaching courts and getting a stay order.
A survey of commercial establishments and their basements is under way. Once the data is compiled, civic officials will do a pan-city drive, said Mr. Randeep. BBMP has also decided to write to the BWSSB and BESCOM to cut off utilities for errant establishments.
False starts
Residents, however, are sceptical of the efficacy of the BBMP’s latest effort as its track record is strewn with false starts. In 2018, as part of a similar drive, the BBMP had served closure notices to 8,493 commercial establishments in residential areas that violated zoning regulations.
It was able to shut down only 215 of them. According to residents, most of these shops and establishments started operating again, but under different names, defeating the entire exercise.
N.S. Mukunda, of Citizen Action Forum likened the latest drive to that of the BBMP’s initiative to remove encroachments from stormwater drains in 2016, which fizzled out after a roaring start. “The courts are always blamed. But the legal cells do scant work to get the stay orders vacated. BBMP has been blaming non-availability of surveyors for over a year,” he said.
This time around, residents are hoping that the drive to vacate basements for parking and shutting down commercial establishments in residential areas will be more effective.
Special commissioners
The two special drives have been initiated by Deputy Chief Minister and City Development Minister Dr. G. Parameshwara following appeals from several RWAs and civic groups. He has appointed four special commissioners as nodal officers for two zones each, to oversee these drives, indicating his intent to see it through, a senior BBMP official said.
“Residents of Indiranagar met the minister after which he ordered officials to take up this drive and even asked them to start from Indiranagar, where the commercialisation menace is the worst. But BBMP officials started the drive from Sadashivanagar, where the DCM lives, showing the lopsided priorities,” said Swarna Venkataraman, of I Change Indiranagar. She added that a similar drive last year gave no respite for the residents.
Mr. Randeep said BBMP will soon issue a public notice asking commercial establishments to shut down voluntarily if they are violating laws as per the sanction plan. “A deadline will set, and if it’s not met, the civic body will move to enforcement,” an official said.
13 shops shut
In a drive on Dr. Rajkumar road, Rajajinagar, the BBMP shut down 10 commercial establishments running without trade licences, and three that were running out of basements reserved for parking. In a similar drive, the civic body had shut down nine commercial establishments running violating zonal regulations in Sadashivanagar on Wednesday.