Building Use - Bank of Baroda breaks all laws in Bangalore

We all love our “native”. As we are ravaged by urbanisation, for many of us, our originial homes dont feel like homes any longer. This post is about the case of the home of Old Bangaloreans – Basavanagudi.

Many a time we do not take up the task of protecting our home. We feign helplessness and cite ‘modernity’ as the reason. The fact is we are losing our cities to illegality, not modernity. This is a case of one such illegality. It especially merits attention for the perpetrator of the illegality is not merely a greedy citizen or a rowdy element, but a government bank, who seems as insensitive to the law as it is to the local citizenry.

This is the case of Bank of Baroda, who intends to occupy No. 33, Police Station Road, Basavanagudi, Bangalore-560004. As per the sanctioned plan of the building No.L.P.434/ 2008-09

1. The Building is meant exclusively for RESIDENTIAL use and is in are area earmarked as residential by the BBMP (Bangalore’s Municipal Authority).
2. Bank of Baroda intends to occupy the stilt floor which is meant to be used ONLY for parking purpose and MUST be left open. The using of this floor for any purpose other than parking is PROHIBITED by law.
3. The building contains an illegal basement (not sanctioned) and hence far exceeds the maximum permissible FAR sanctioned by law.
4. Building bye-laws have been flouted on all sides of the building and necessary set-back has not been provided.
5. As shown in the picture, Absolutely NO PARKING space has been provided in the building which is both illegal and causes great inconvenience to the residents of the neighbourhood

Given the situation, the BBMP issued a notice to the owner which said the below:

BBMP Notice [original copy below]

The Building has been sanctioned ONLY for residential use, vide sanction no. LP 494/08-09 dated 6.5.2008

1)      The building is built in violation of the rules and bye-laws of BBMP
2)      Basement floor of 128.26 sq. m is built illegally (as the same has not been sanctioned in the approved plan)
3)      There is no approach for the stilt floor for entry and exit of vehicles
4)      The illegally constructed basement floor has been rented out for commercial purpose and the stilt floor is also being rented out for commercial activity
5)      The balconies with width of 0.6m in the East, 0.90m in the West and length of 5.5m has been constructed in violation of building bye-laws

Additionally the The Honorable High Court of Karnataka (Justice Vikramjit Sen, CJI & BV Nagarathna) has passed an Order in WP 3676/2008 on 25/01/2012 directing BBMP not to sanction any buildings for commercial purpose and also to recall all commercial sanction plan in residential areas sanctioned after 25/01/2012.

This notice and the Hon. High Court of Karnataka Order was shared with the Bank of Baroda authorities, from the Chairman down to the GM – Estate to the local Regional Manager. Yet, they chose not to act.

If we allow such blatant illegalities to go unchallenged, we will lose the little that we have left of Bangalore, and this is indeed true of most cities in India.