All the grace time to basement shop owners is about to get over. After the results of the general elections are out on May 23, the basement shop demolitions will resume.
Talking to Residents Watch, BBMP Commissioner Manjunatha Prasad said, “We have shutdown many basement shops in Bengaluru and will continue our drive after the elections results are out.”
HSR BBMP officials echoed the same facts and said that the elections had put a spanner in the works. In addition, the shopkeepers had asked for more time to look for alternative places. When the BBMP announced that grace time was being given for the shopkeepers to shift, many assumed that the pause was permanent and have still not shifted. What’s more, many new basement shops have come up in HSR Layout. All such new establishments who violated the law will incur the most losses as all their fresh investments will come to nought.
BBMP has decided not to issue any notices before the shutdowns and demolitions. Since the parking areas are only meant for parking and no commercial activity is permitted in building basements, any construction for any other purpose is illegal, according to the Karnataka Municipal Act of 1976.
However, the lax implementation of this four-decade-old rule prompted the Karnataka High Court to come down heavily on the BBMP, which has prompted the civic agency to act. If the BBMP does not implement the rule due to the powers-that-be, it could land in serious trouble. Therefore, no matter who owns or runs a commercial establishment in a building basement, they will have to bow down before the law.
