BBMP is doing little to improve the lot of the urban poor and tackle old building.
Rescue work being carried out after a building collapsed in Adugodi, Bengaluru on Tuesday -DC
Bangalore: Bangalore may have its share of towering buildings with flashy glass facades in tune with its IT City tag, but look a little closer and you see another story, that of slums and the poor living in pathetic urban conditions.
But sadly, despite the phenomenal rise of slum clusters in Bangalore over the last decade, the BBMP has done little to improve the lot of the urban poor. Its indifference to their plight and failure to evacuate people from a dilapidated building claimed five lives in Adugodi on Tuesday. The over 50 year old building had no sanction from the authority and the landlord had not paid property tax as the property was in dispute.
Ask the BBMP why it failed to act and it admits it doesn’t have data on old and dilapidated structures of the city. It now, however, claims to have received a wake up call. BBMP commissioner M. LaksÂhmÂinarayan says its engineers will soon proceed to identify all unsafe buildings in the city.
“We will send a circular to the different zones to identify dilapidated buildings and a report on them will be submitted to the BBMP council before a decision is taken on demolishing them,” he assures.
Unfortunately, not only has the BBMP been indifferent to the condition of buildings in the city, it has itself set no sterling example for private builders to follow over the years.
When the civic agency decided to provide housing for the economically weaker sections (EWS) in the 1980s it built 1,512 flats in 42 blocks of 36 tenements each with help from the Housing and Urban Development Corporation (HUDCO). But the quality of construction was so poor that Block Number 13 of the settlement collapsed on November 9 2003, injuring several and leaving 36 families homeless. In subsequent years, three more blocks collapsed, claiming the lives of five children and injuring many more.
Another government agency, the Karnataka State Slum Development Board (KSSDB) too has been guilty of using substandard material in building residential quarters for slumdwellers who had encroached on the SubraÂmanyapura lake. The project was stalled after people protested the quality of housing being provided.
“One expects government buildings to follow all safety standards. But although they are supposed to lead by example, the reality is very different. There are violations right in the heart of the city , in corporation offices and many such buildings,” says former Deputy Director (Technical), Department of Fire and Emergency Services, B. K. Hampagol.
Concerned by the condition of buildings in the city, civic activists believe the time has come not just for an audit of private buildings but also public ones built by the BBMP and other government agencies to keep the people occupying them safe.
Next: Govt has no control over Private buildings
Govt has no control over Private buildings
It’s estimated that Bangalore has over 20,000 homeless people and over a lakh of poor people living in temporary settlements and slum clusters, mainly thanks to the government’s failure to provide housing for the urban poor.
“The government that should be providing housing for the poor acts more like a real estate agency. The BBMP and BDA are government agencies, but they don’t have the interests of the poor at heart. For that matter, we don’t have proper shelters for the homeless either,” rues Isaac Arul Selva, an activist fighting for the rights of people from the economically weaker sections.
While the government does little to provide housing for the poor, the BBMP doesn’t care to keep a check on old dilapidated buildings that they are often forced to occupy, he regrets.
“The government has absolutely no control over private buildings, including those which encroach on its own land,” rues activist Rajendra Prabhakar . In the absence of a Rent Control Act the poor have no option but to find and live in any place they can afford, he says.
And sometimes they are driven out from even these makeshift shelters without being provided an alternative. For instance, in January this year the BBMP bulldozed 1,512 homes and evicted more than 5,000 people living in tin sheds on land which once housed the economically weaker section (EWS) quarters in Ejipura, Koramangala. The demolition left thousands homeless, including 1,200 women and 2,000 children, many of whom were in the midst of studying for exams.
Next: ‘Can’t spend tax payer’s money on weak buildings’
‘Can’t spend tax payer’s money on weak buildings’
BBMP Commissioner M. Lakshminarayan talks to DC about rules and regulations to monitor safety of buildings.
What action have you taken after the building in Adugodi collapsed claiming five lives on Tuesday ?
It was a private and dilapidated building. BBMP has no role to play in this but on humanitarian grounds Rs 1 lakh has been announced for the family of the deceased.
Have you identified old and dilapidated buildings in the city?
I have directed all the engineers to inspect old and dilapidated buildings and issue notices to their owners to either strengthen or demolish them.
What is the BBMP itself doing to strengthen dilapidated buildings?
The BBMP cannot afford to spend tax payers’ money on strengthening all dilapidated buildings.
Is there at least a plan to check the stability of BBMP and government owned structures?
Of course, if the BBMP or government owned buildings are in a dilapidated condition we will bulldoze them after taking the required permission.
Next: ‘Govt must make housing affordable’
‘Govt must make housing affordable’
Hariharan Chandrashekar
Bangalore has the dubious distinction of being a city with a very high slum density. We have had this tag for the last 12 years as over four million people live in semi-permanent homes in the city.
Over the last five years, things have gone from bad to worse. It is time the government came up with a viable solution. What we need to do is make homes more affordable for people. But how can we do that when the land prices are soaring and nobody wants to make a bad investment?
The solution could be letting private builders own the buildings rather than selling them the land and then allowing them to lease or sell the houses at affordable EMIs or rates that would encourage the real buyers.
Now what the government is doing — the job of the realtor builder without addressing the issue of providing affordable houses. If we had controlled private players instead, we could make houses available for all. The problem that Bangalore is facing is not unique. Ahmedabad too has a similar problem, but we can learn from the way it is addressing it.
If we are ready to learn and adapt, there are several lessons to take from Japan, Singapore and other countries as well. But to start with we must be willing to learn.
The writer is director, BCIL
( Source : dc )
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