Controversy continues to boil over demolition drive.
As the Bruhat Bengaluru Mahanagara Palike (BBMP) is going ahead with the demolition drive of illegal structures built close to storm water drains, two famous shopping malls in Bengaluru city have come under the scanner.
Several media reports said that Orion Mall in Rajajinagar and Gopalan Arcade in Rajarajeshwarinagar may face the hammer for constructing the buildings encroaching storm water drains.
Deccan Herald quoted Bengaluru Mayor B N Manjunath Reddy as saying that the malls have encroached on storm water drains and the officials have confirmed the irregularities in a survey.
“The survey has been completed and it has emerged that the two malls are sitting on storm water drains,” Manjunath Reddy was quoted as saying by Deccan Herald.
Reddy said that no permission was granted to construct the mall.
“The then BBMP commissioner Siddaiah had not given permission to build the mall, but the structure had still managed to come up, which is quite shocking,” he said.
“It is an old matter, which I cannot recall at this point. But I did not sanction any mall during my tenure as BBMP commissioner,” Siddaiah said.
Meanwhile, reports also said the final decision on the two malls has not been taken.
India Today reported that the BBMP authorities will conduct a fresh survey before taking further steps to avoid legal complications.
“An earlier survey had indicated some encroachments by these malls. But these surveys have been contested, prompting us to go for a re-survey to prevent any legal complications,” The Hindu quoted Manjunath Reddy as saying.
Responding to the issue, Vishal Mirchandani, CEO of Orion Mall said that according to the documents with Department of Survey Settlement and Land Records in 1995, there was no rainwater storm on the plot. The land was acquired by Construction Industry Training Board (CITB), the predecessor to Bangalore Development Authority (BDA).
General Manager of Gopalan Mall, Subba Rao said that he was not aware of the statement of the Mayor. “But if other buildings are being razed, then we are no exception,” he said.
The Karnataka High Court had earlier ordered BBMP not to demolish multi-story buildings built encroaching rainwater storm drains before legally assessing their construction plans.