The Times of India            23.11.2010

BBMP fails to trace owners, penalize them

BANGALORE: Quite surprising, in the midst of our concrete jungle are some vacant sites. And most of them are filthy dumpyards. While the onus of keeping them clean lies on the owners, it is neighbours, passersby and even BBMP's pourakarmikas who use them as garbage yards.

Recently, the BBMP issued notices to vacant site owners in Yelahanka, but whether anything will come of it remains to be seen.

In May 2009, then commissioner S Subramanya had sounded a warning to all such site owners across the city -- the BBMP plan was to issue notices to owners, asking them to clean up their sites. In addition, BBMP also wanted to put up boards at problem sites, giving owners a strict deadline, failing which the Palike would clean the sites and recover the expenses from the owners, along with property tax.

But to date, not a single site owner has been penalized. Nor have boards been planted, and BBMP admits that no ground work has been done. Forget cleaning up, a majority of the owners are also yet to pay property tax for the past three years.

OWNERS CAN'T BE TRACKED

With no proper addresses, the biggest challenge for the Palike now is to track these site owners. Unfortunately, the city's property register now being updated with the Geographical Information System (GIS) will not be of much help.

"We don't have the owners' addresses. Vacant sites have become a serious issue. A majority of these sites have also not been assessed for tax. Even for sites that are regularly assessed for property tax under the Self Assessment Scheme (SAS), many owners don't mention their correct contact address. We are helpless,'' chairman of the tax and finance committee P N Sadashiva told TOI.

The GIS mapping of properties in the city reveals there are over two lakh vacant sites across Bangalore. A majority of them, particularly those in residential areas, are increasingly prone to being dumpyards. Even prime residential hubs like Jayanagar and Indiranagar are not free of this issue. The question that remains unanswered -- Who will clear up the mess?

"We are planning to take action soon. The issue needs to be discussed in the council. We are now in the process of tracking the tax evaders. If required, we should also bring in an amendment to the KMC Act to take over abandoned vacant sites,'' Sadashiva explained.

PROBLEM AREAS: JUST A SAMPLE

S V K Layout in Basaveshwarnagar: A quiet layout, livable in many respects. But many residents here are plagued by empty sites between houses and apartments. Many of them have remained vacant for decades now. Most owners live abroad and the sites are left to irresponsible caretakers.

Unhygienic conditions at a 60x40 site here had also claimed the life of a Class 10 student, M D Archana, on December 6, 2005 -- she had died of dengue. The site just next to her apartment was stinking and infested with mosquitoes. Revisiting the site and layout in 2009, TOI had reported on the unchanged conditions. Even today, the site worries them.

Archana's death triggered some cleanliness initiatives by residents here; the TOI report in May 2009 had brought the caretaker to the spot with a team of workers to clean it. Later, residents had roped in an NGO. But the efforts ended there.

"To date, the site has been cleaned only twice by the owner. Now, it's used to store some construction material. We have lost hope,'' said Ravishankar K, a resident here for over 13 years.

AREAWISE

Sanjaynagar & HBR Layout: A burning issue here. With no proper door-to-door garbage collection, most vacant sites are now reduced to garbage dumps. Worse, garbage is regularly burnt here. "We don't know what to do. It's frustrating. The worst part is that nobody cares, even if these sites are on the main road!'' rues V Satyamurthy, president of Sanjaynagar RWA.