Bangalore :Setback area during construction is  the most violated building bye law in Bangalore. This has been revealed by a  survey conducted by officials of the civic agency’s town planning department. Apparently not even 1% of the buildings conform to the building bye laws in place and violation of the set back guidelines is the most common violation.

Upa Lokayukta Justice Subhash B Adi has directed the government to take action against building owners who have compromised safety of occupants and neighbours by not leaving adequate setback as per the guidelines especially those buildings between  15m and 30 m height which require a six meter set back.

“The proposal (of 6 m setback) came from the fire force department and BBMP officials agreed to it,” Justice Adi said. Existing rules stipulate a setback of between 6m and 10 m for buildings between 15 m and 30 m in height, but officials froze on 6m since a fire truck would be able to enter the building premises in case of an emergency

Justice Adi directed that the 6 m rule be adhered to regardless of TDR (Transfer of Development Rights) or other factors such as width of the road. Bruhat Bangalore Mahanagara Palike (BBMP) officials do not have exact numbers, but they estimate that more than one lakh buildings in the city  violate this guideline.

In a bid to beat the rules, one builder in Gandhinagar, restricted the height of his building to a few inches less than 15 m. This came to the notice of Justice Adi after which he organized a meeting with  the BBMP and fire department officials , who were asked to conduct a survey of all such buildings in densely populated areas like Gandhinagar, Shivajinagar and KR Market and will later spread to other parts of the city.

Many owners evade the setback rule by buying TDR. “If one buys TDR, one will get relaxation on setback by almost 50 per cent,” an official said. “For example, if the rule demands a setback of 6 m, the owner can leave only 3 m by buying TDR.”

However, now they too will have to comply.