There appears to be chaos in the Bruhat Bengaluru Mahanagara Palike (BBMP) due to non-coordination among different wings in removing storm-water drain encroachments, as the civic body’s engineers are informed about the stay order against demolition only when they reach the site, the High Court of Karnataka said on Wednesday.
A Division Bench comprising Chief Justice Prasanna B. Varale and Justice M.G.S. Kamal made the oral observations during the hearing of PIL petitions relating to maintenance of lakes and storm-water drains.
During the hearing, the counsel for some of the petitioners pointed out to the Bench that as monsoon was approaching, if effective steps were not taken, the situation would be very difficult to be managed by the BBMP and it may also cause health hazards.
Demolition drive resumes
However, the counsel for the BBMP told the Bench that the demolition drive on SWDs had resumed and sought two weeks to submit a fresh status report indicating the progress made in removal of already identified encroachments.
At this stage, the Bench pointed out from newspaper reports that BBMP engineers were aware of the stay orders granted by the courts only when the owners of disputed buildings showed the the order when they reached the sport for demolition of such structures.
Report to be submitted
“Why are officers in charge of demolition not being made aware of such stay orders earlier? It shows that there is no coordination among various wings like engineering etc...Nobody knows what they are doing...,” the Bench observed orally, while directing the BBMP to submit a status report on progress made since October 2022.
