The BBMP Grounds recovered after a five-year fight by the Resident Welfare Associations of HSR Layout is being misused by the local politicians and BBMP officials despite resident protests. But this time, the residents decided that enough was enough when they realised that the BBMP, on the advice of Bommanahalli MLA Satish Reddy, had given the permission for a 11-day non-sports event from March 1. Though the permission was given in November last year, it has come to bite BBMP now as the event is slated to begin from tomorrow.

When the residents saw that the erection of the pendal had begun, they went to the BBMP office last week, and asked them to suspend the event as the permission is illegal.

“About 20 concerned residents met the Assistant Engineer of the BBMP at the HSR Layout office and gave a representation along with BBMP circulars that clearly indicate that BBMP can only give permission to non-sports events for only five days in a month, to five different organisations. There is no room for mega events as the rules stipulate that only one Sunday can be used by one organisation, and they can only use the grounds for one day. In this case, one organisation is holding a 11-day event, including two Sundays, which is a blatant violation of the BBMP rules,” said Sector 2 resident Girish Shivalingaiah who is leading the protest.

But the BBMP officials insist that such a big event cannot be held anywhere else. MP Kupendra Reddy also called for a meeting precisely for this reason, citing traffic issues if “2 lakh people” turn up for the event. However, the organisers are apparently saying that arrangements are being made to feed only 4000 people per day. The truth could well be inbetween, but what concerned Kupendra Reddy is the traffic mess and the fact that it’s exam time for students.

The protestors contend that though the event is only for 11 days, the dismantling of the massive structures will take another month. “Before the programme, they took 20 days to build the structure. After the 11-day event, they will take another 10 days to dismantle it. Totally, the playground will be blocked by this event for 41 days and the playground will not be available for any sporting and related activities during this time,” says Girish.

The BBMP and the MLA are in the middle of a controversy yet again for violating all the rules of the land concerning the open corporation grounds.

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