HOT TOPICS

SPOTLIGHT AGENCIES

Uncontrolled growth - any remedies?

145

Written By silkboard - 13 April, 2008

Bangalore CDP Masterplan Marathahalli Sakrama byelaws parking Pedestrian Infrastructure

Here is a tale of two buildings right next to each other.

Setback from the road, and use of basement for the first one:

[flickr-photo:id=2410462125,size=m] [flickr-photo:id=2411290616,size=m]

And, similar shots of the adjoining building:

[flickr-photo:id=2410463013,size=m] [flickr-photo:id=2411291116,size=m]

Notice the contrast? Whats the result? Lack of parking space, which makes every customer of this complex a violator of that bold no parking signboard. No space for pedestrians to walk, thus forcing them down on the road, which in turn slows down the traffic on it.

There are plenty of examples in and around Bangalore, example of the very thing which we refer to as "uncontrolled growth", which to me means lack of control over how development should happen, something that leads to numerous small areas that increase 'entropy'.

We know the how and why of these examples. Perhaps corruption in plan approval and construction process answers the how. The zeal to make the most of real estate at the cost of stressing local infrastructure would answer the why.

I was talking to someone (who I assumed to be) either a stakeholder or builder of one such construction happening on Varthur Road, and he said hey, once the building comes up, and as long as all of it stays inside my plot, it can never get the extreme punishment of demolition. Talking to a few more folks like him will tell you what guides everyone - 1) construction is permament, no government or enforcement agency in the city is brutal enough to order extreme punishments, and 2) at the end of day, all I did was inside the piece of land I own. 3) it isn't really a crime, am I killing or robbing someone here?

Those are the perceptions to fight if you want to stop this "uncontrolled growth" so common in new peripheral areas of Bangalore.

Will Sakrama prevent or fix these? Sakrama seeks to 'pardon' examples like above with one time penalty, as if these points of entropy have caused just one time inconvenience to the citizens! The scheme doesn't entice, encourage or force the existing owners to try remedial corrections. A hefty recurring annual surcharge on property tax could make people think. A serious parking enforcement drive which could cut the flow of customers to these small businesses could make them think.

BTW, don't pin your hopes on a sealing or demolition drive initiated by courts or a few activist bureaucrats. The Delhi experience tells us that a thing like that would eventually lead to lawmakers amending the masterplan itself to change the definition of norms and planning.

Its a real strange mess, a situation where democracy seems to be its own enemy. There are just so many of these examples around (small 3-4 floor commercial complexes, wedding halls, residences on smallish sites) that there can be no 'popular' solution without altering the very laws and norms.

[Very important disclaimer: I have nothing personal for or against the businesses photographed here. These photos are more for representation purposes. Moreover, I may not be accurate in my interpretation of byelaws, norms and violations]

COMMENTS

Strict rules and implementation

santsub - 13 April, 2008 - 23:54

I agree with TS. If they implement this it should work. Otherwise cancel their licence. Can they also ask courts not to accept stay orders?? damn thats a dampner on anything good that is on its way...

parking ban and parking tickets..

blrsri - 14 April, 2008 - 00:30

Ban parking is a good way to drive away the business from such shops and atleast then there will be some order and people will think away from 'traffic..its not my problem'

COming to how to enforce parking ban..would like to take an instance of Gandhibazaar..anyday anytime there will be the 'tiger' prowling to catch violators..its worked pretty ok..recently its again become a money making source for the cops..300Rs receipt fine and 100 for non receipt..

My father, being a late user of vehicles, had parked this two wheeler on DVG road last year inbetween two cars..as he came back he saw a parking ticket for 200rs! He propltly got to the station the next day to pay the fine! I thought that was a good way of enforcement which would also plug the loophole in the enforcement system..

Unfortunately this ticket system has been stopped now..this needs to be revived and used for the good purpose! 

Pardoning Culprits is an invitation for more

Naveen - 14 April, 2008 - 08:28

Sakrama :

In my opinion, this should never have been introduced. A violation is, & will remain a violation & can never become legitimate, unless the buildung is demolished & a new structure put up that complies with all bye-laws & statutes.

However, in this country, such violations are the norm - most houses have violated bye-laws, let alone petty shops & other small scale buisnesses, as detailed by SB above, which is a real shame.

What the govt needs to work on is to find a method to introduce higher taxes for buildings that have violated norms, based on certain criteria where larger the violations are, higher the taxes, together with a penalty.

The essential question is - how will they succeeed in doing this  ??

For a start, neutral agencies appointed by the govt need to compile a database of such illegal structures, with full details, drawings, photos, etc. Thus, costs would be involved, but it may be worth the effort. By then, the matter would have reached the courts through various PILs, shop-keeper associations, traders, etc. etc. - so, the data would come handy & cases would be fought - & a possible outcome would be a 'slight' increase in the taxes- okay, fine, but its a start. The next step is to hike up the taxes for only the violators at next revision. The govt has now made a great move, politically, they are not increasing taxes for those that have stayed within the law. The truth always wins, - this is now coming true, etc..

Again, courts, lawyers, etc. - but a more stiffer tax for violators. And so on so forth.

In due course, the costs of maintaining such illegitimate buildings will hurt owners' pockets & they will prefer to stay within the law by demolishing /resizing their buildings. This will also keep a lid on violations in new structures.

Legitimising illegal structures is a recipe for disaster & an open invitation for fence sitters to hop on & do the same - it's highly profitable, though we are culprits !!

Kudos Hats off to you for

ssheragu - 14 April, 2008 - 09:04

Kudos Hats off to you for such an indepth finding & analyses You have given an excellent critical review of building violations Now we should all strive to get it implemented your way so that henceforth there will not be any violations

bang on.

tsubba - 13 April, 2008 - 21:06


awesome post. right on the ball on the consequences of this. as you said, demolition is not going to happen. but what if they:
1) first ban parking on ORR AND then
2) deny trade licence for businesses that operate in the vioalting sections of the building. (those shops which were supposed to be parking areas).

sakrama regularizes deviation in construction. but can they still leverage the trade licence, to achieve this?

did some digging around after i wrote that...
you say, these types of cases are a serious health hazard, bbmp says they take public health pretty seriously and if a business violates public health, no trade licence. atleast on paper.. check this out...
http://www.bmponline.org/account-dept/tradelicence.shtml
  • Trade license, is thus an administrative act whereby a Municipality’s permission is required to conduct trades in certain goods and services. If persons engaged in any of the schedule trade fail to obtain a trade licence, then, to preserve public health such unlicenced trades are to be summarily shut down. Section 353 of the KMC Act specifies that “ No place within the limits of the city shall be used for any of the purposes mentioned in Schedule X without a licence obtained from the Commissioner and except in accordance, with condition specified therein.”
  • The duty of the issues of traded licence in Bruhat Bangalore Mahanagara Palike vest with the Health Department, which issues licence to a broad range of professions, trades, and occupations. They license from health care institutions (e.g., hospitals, nursing homes, laboratories and diagnostic centers) as well as people engaging in trades or occupations that affect the public’s health and safety (e.g., barbers, beauty parlor, Dobhi boarding and lodgings places, articles of food and drink). They also licence industries that run on motive power in order to regulate the environment issues that such industries can cause.

specifically check this out...
http://www.bmponline.org/account-dept/trade/faq.pdf

9. Will there be inspection of the trade premises before the renewal of the trade license if I apply before the 31st of March 2007?
Normally, there will not be an inspection of the trade premises for renewal during this optional period unless warrant and directed by the Commissioner or the delegated authority. However, designated staff of Bangalore Mahanagara Palike will carry out random inspection after the trade license has been renewed.

10. On what basis is the renewal done?
Renewal under the scheme is done on the basis of an affidavit filed on a One hundred Rupees Stamp paper to the effect that you will continue to carry on the trade as per regulation and other laws in force for the respective trade.

11. Why is this undertaking required?
When you initially applied for trade license your premises was invariably inspected by the delegated Authority under the KMC Act 1976 before granting the license. You will appreciate that it is neither practical nor does Bruhat Bangalore Mahanagara Palike have the machinery to inspect every business premises before granting the renewal. Therefore, we will renew trade license automatically during this optional period on the basis of the affidavit filed by you that you are complying with all the regulations required for running your trade. We will however take up random inspections of trade premise to check for compliance to law.

12. Why is random check required?
Public health is one of the prime concerns of the Bruhat Bangalore Mahanagara Palike and thus we will make all efforts to safeguard public health. Random checks will ensure that the schedule trades follow health regulations.

the problem is, from what little read around, zonal regulation is classification is very broad, residential, commercial etc... do you know where to look for parking in the basement law?


PRAJA.IN COMMENT GUIDELINES

Posting Guidelines apply for comments as well. No foul language, hate mongering or personal attacks. If criticizing third person or an authority, you must be fact based, as constructive as possible, and use gentle words. Avoid going off-topic no matter how nice your comment is. Moderators reserve the right to either edit or simply delete comments that don't meet these guidelines. If you are nice enough to realize you violated the guidelines, please save Moderators some time by editing and fixing yourself. Thanks!