Bengaluru: Former Deputy Chief Minister R Ashok on Friday demanded the Bruhat Bengaluru Mahanagara Palike (BBMP) authorities to stop the ongoing demolition of buildings allegedly constructed on storm water drains in the city.
Speaking with media persons after submitting a memorandum to BBMP Commissioner N Manjunath Prasad demanding the BBMP to stop the ongoing demolition drive, R Ashok said the BBMP authorities and revenue authorities have identified the buildings for demolition based on century-old maps thus depriving shelter to poor and middle-class families. “There is confusion about the extent of encroachment of storm water drains in the city. There is no clarity on the existence of storm water drains. We demand the BBMP authorities to stop the demolition drive till all doubts and confusion are cleared. We want the BBMP authorities to go ahead with the demolition drive based on the Comprehensive Development Plan 2015 and certainly not the revenue maps prepared more than a century ago,’’ Ashok said.

Blaming the BBMP authorities and the revenue authorities for the demolition of buildings belonging to poor and middle-class families, the former deputy chief minister said the majority of the buildings were constructed only after availing the required permission from the authorities concerned. “It is unfair to punish these gullible property owners who have been paying property tax for all these years. The BBMP authorities are yet to punish those BBMP officials and engineers who sanctioned plans for those buildings. I want the BBMP authorities to take stringent action against those erring officials without any delay,’’ he said.

Demanding the state government and the BBMP authorities to provide compensation to those lost shelter during the demolition drive, the BJP leader said the state government, under the leadership of Siddaramaiah, has become a JCB Government and it is not interested in the welfare of poor and middle-class people. “The authorities have no courage to take the JCB machines near to the buildings constructed by big developers. There are some ministers in Siddaramaiah Cabinet who evince lot of enthusiasm to issue statements to frighten the poor and middle class families. I want these ministers stop issuing such unnecessary statements,’’ he said.