Deccan Herald 20.12.2013
75 per cent of City buildings illegal
Parking on roadsides has become a huge menace
in the City. But this problem would not have become so gigantic, had the
Bruhat Bangalore Mahanagara Palike (BBMP) officials taken note of
buildings violating the norms.
There are 15 lakh
buildings in Bangalore that have violated the parking norms. This number
has been revealed by an internal assessment conducted by BBMP’s Town
Planning Department. Officials in the department point that there are
only five lakh buildings in Bangalore that have followed norms, of the
total of 20 lakh buildings approved by BBMP.
A BBMP official on
condition of anonymity told Deccan Herald, “if we go by the law, then
these buildings need to be demolished as they are illegal structures.
But we cannot do so because of varied reasons. This problem has led to
the parking menace in the City.”
Under Chapter 8 of the Zoning
Rules for Bangalore City, providing parking space is mandatory. The
builder should provide parking space in the building and it can be any
floor of their premises. No permission for construction can be given if
the builder does not show provision for parking in the design plan.
Further, in case if they have a cellar, that should be used as parking
space. In the absence of a cellar, then any floor can be used as parking
space by providing adequate passage ways.
in Bangalore do not provide parking space. There are instances where we
(the BBMP) have included parking slots in the plan before giving
approval. But when building has been constructed, parking slot is
absent. BBMP officials are also equally responsible for this violation,”
the official pointed.
BBMP Commissioner N Lakshminarayan told
Deccan Herald that he was aware of this problem but his priority now is
to get the parking policy implemented.
“Once the parking policy
is implemented, many problems will be solved. So far, no drives have
been conducted or thought of to raze such structures.”
Prof M N
Sreehari, advisor to the State government on traffic, transportation and
infrastructure, questioned how BBMP issued occupancy certificates to
builders when there is no provision for parking.
Further, BBMP
has an account of only those buildings that generate tax, there is no
account of other structures. Now, if they want to implement the parking
policy, then this is just a gimmick. They should change the building
bylaws first, which will solve most of the problems, he added.
