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Urban Encroachment

BBMP demolition drive continues amid protest

Friday, 13 November 2009 05:13 administrator
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The Hindu 13.11.2009

BBMP demolition drive continues amid protest

 

Staff Reporter

Houses on Raja Kaluve brought down

— Photo: Bhagya Prakash K.

Structures being razed at Ittamadu as part of BBMP’s drive against encroachments in Bangalore on Thursday.

BANGALORE: The drive to remove encroachments on Raja Kaluve across the city by the Bruhat Bangalore Mahanagara Palike continued on Thursday. The BBMP took up the demolition drive in Ittamadu (ward number 55) amid protest by residents.

Several houses that had come up on the Raja Kaluve there were demolished during the drive while some property owners lost a portion of their property.

There were allegations that the BBMP did not issue notices to the property owners before demolition was taken up. Residents also said that they were taken by surprise. However, the residents said that the BBMP had marked their property about a fortnight ago, apparently for demolition.

“We have khata and have been paying tax for our property. These property have sanctioned plans, and despite these documents, our property were demolished,” said a resident, Chandrashekar, who lost a large portion of his property.

He also quoted other residents as saying that they had apprised the Lokayukta of the situation there. He said that the Lokayukta had asked these residents to meet him with the relevant documents.

Shankar, another resident, said that many owners had availed themselves of loans to construct houses there, and that they would be in trouble due to the demolition of their property.

Meanwhile, property owners who are likely to lose their buildings in the days to come started salvaging whatever they could before the BBMP takes up demolition. They removed iron grills, steel staircase, window and door frames on Thursday.

Though some residents charged the BBMP with going slow on an encroachment by an apartment complex on Ittamadu 1st Main, officials refuted the allegations.

“We will recover the 20-ft encroachment by the apartment in a couple of days,” a senior BBMP engineer said even as the apartment residents claimed that they had a map prepared by the BBMP showing that their building had not encroached upon the Raja Kaluve.

“We are even ready to offer an alternative space for the Raja Kaluve by which demolition of the building can be prevented,” a resident of the apartment said.

Chief Engineer (South Zone) Anantha Swamy has, in a press release, said that 350 metres of the Raja Kaluve had been encroached upon by 46 houses in Ittamadu.

He said that these property had been identified during a survey of the kaluve. On Thursday, 10 houses were demolished.

All the 46 houses would be brought down, the release said.

Last Updated on Friday, 13 November 2009 05:14
 

Tehbazari axe looms, but encroachers don’t budge

Thursday, 12 November 2009 11:23 administrator
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Indian Express 12.11.2009

Tehbazari axe looms, but encroachers don’t budge

Finally the MC is ready with its massive anti-encroachment drive which will kick off on Thursday. The corporation has made adequate security arrangements to ensure that the drive, which will start from Mall Road, goes on unhindered.

Interestingly, the shopkeepers and the residents are playing it cool as as they have yet not taken any step to remove encroachments on their own. Yesterday, MC officials had visited the Mall Road, College Road, Ghumar Mandi and Ferozepur road areas and apprised the shopkeepers about the encroachments they had made and which needed to removed.

Meanwhile, the shopkeepers of Ferozepur Road and Ghumar Mandi have assured that they will remove their encroachments on their own. Harish Rai Dhanda, Chief Parliamentary Secretary, on Thursday, arranged a meeting of the shopkeepers with the commissioner, AK Sinha.

Meanwhile, temporary encroachments — rehris and pherris — were also removed from the inner city by the Tehbazari branch today.

Apart from this, a delegation of Residents and Market Association of Sarabha Nagar, block-I, also met the MC Commissioner on Wednesday and apprised him about the encroachment in their area and misuse of the parking area by the car-repair workshops. They pleaded with the MC Commissioner to bring their area under demolition drive.

Last Updated on Thursday, 12 November 2009 11:25
 

'Lax action spursencroachments' NMC

Wednesday, 11 November 2009 07:55 administrator
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The Times of India 11.11.2009

'Lax action spursencroachments' NMC

TNN 11 November 2009, 04:15am IST

NAGPUR: Even though the anti-encroachment squad of the Nagpur Municipal Corporation and city police claim to conduct frequent drives against
encroachments on footpaths and roads, citizens allege that both the agencies simply go through the motions.

It is common experience that encroachers come right back, some times within minutes of civic squad leaving the place. A few days ago, commissioner of police Praveen Dixit himself launched a drive to remove encroachments between Rani Jhansi square and Variety Square. The police drive was assisted by the anti-encroachment squad of the NMC. However, encroachers came back even after promising that they would not. A visit to the road the next day revealed it was business as usual.

High court lawyer R P Joshi, while welcoming the police action, felt it was because of absence of deterrent action against encroachers. In most cases, just some material is seized. That too is returned after paying a nominal fine. Joshi pointed out encroachment on government property like footpaths and roads is a crime under the law. He wondered why the police do not arrest the encroachers and treat them like other criminals. He said deterrent action needed to be taken to tackle this menace, and feared that otherwise all government properties and lands would be encroached upon. Slums developed in the city basically because of inaction of public officials, he claimed.

Residents and road-users also pointed out that many market places in the city were encroached upon, but the cops never paid any heed to them. The NMC officials admitted the problem. Strangely they appeared to justify the action of shop-keepers in gobbling up the footpath. "In most cases they do not go beyond the footpath and the market doesn't get congested due to their action," said one NMC official as if rights of pedestrians to use footpaths just did not matter.

Despite repeated efforts, Commissioner of Police Praveen Dixit could not be contacted. However, a senior police official said that it was the duty of the NMC to remove encroachments. Though the shopkeepers had promised to abide by the rules, they took no time in flouting the same, he said but was unable to explain why provisions of law to make an arrest were not being used.

Meanwhile municipal commissioner Aseem Gupta said the NMC would take the help of corporators to make the city free from encroachments. The decision was taken in a meeting of corporators, standing committee chairman Pravin Bhisikar and Aseem Gupta. The civic chief said health inspectors would be appointed to conduct a survey on encroachments of each zones. Based on their reports, the corporator of every ward would be involved in keeping respective ward encroachment free, he added.
 
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