Business in my backyard? Bengaluru says No'!

Bengalureans have spent years trying to rid residential areas of commercial activity, with the High Court backing their claims and ordering the BBMP to shut down these businesses. The state’s counter is to revise the Common Zoning Regulation, legalising commercialisation in roads that are at least 30 feet wide. RWAs and citizen groups are determined to fight against these regulations, which they claim are the government’s way of covering up irregularities and pandering to real estate mafia. The regulations reflect a lack of overall planning and will render the Masterplan 2035 redundant, report Aknisree Karthik and Aksheev Thakur

Indiranagar residents are a weary lot; their years-long struggle to remove commercial establishments from residential areas which recently appeared to be on the cusp of fruition, might be laid waste by the Karnataka Town Planning Board’s proposed Common Zoning Regulations. These rules, if brought into place, will legalise lakhs of small businesses, the very establishments that residents of now teeming-suburbs have sought to thwart. Angry citizens claim that the proposed regulations are the state government’s way of covering up irregularities and pandering to the real estate mafia amidst their cries to curb commercial activity in residential areas.

Citizens groups and Resident Welfare Associations (RWAs), who had pinned their hopes on the BBMP's crackdown on illegal commercial activities, have at their disposal a long list of woes, from rampant parking outside homes to overlowing sewage, safety concerns and noise and air pollution. Citizens groups intend to do everything in their power, including going to court, to stop the new zoning regulations from being put into place. Rubbishing the proposal, Nithin Seshadri, member of the Koramangala 3rd Block RWA, said, "It's a joke being played on the people of Bengaluru. We see this draft as a tool to camouflage earlier wrongdoings and to please the real estate mafia." The proposal, he added, coul "overrule the HC ruling directing civic agencies to take action against the commercialisation of residential areas."

Insisting that RWAs will not let this draft become a reality, Seshadri said, "We will take the necessary action. We will protest, meet the needed officials and politicians. We also do not mind taking the issue to court, if that means bringing justice for the already worried residents of Bengaluru.

"The right to livelihood is the garb under which ease of doing business is propagated. However, this right cannot affect the quality of life of an entire community, which has been living in the area for decades. These law-abiding residents have the right to a decent life, too," argued Praveen S, secretary, Indiranagar 2nd Stage League. "This process will make Bengaluru totally unliveable and create an intense densification within the city. It will only add to the already burdened infrastructure," he added, likening the proposal to the government "mixing the activities of the kitchen and bathroom together."

According to the proposal, 'residential main' and 'residential mix' classifications will be merged into merely 'residential'. Businesses can exist in these areas depending on the width of the road and have been classified as C1, C2, C3, C4 and C5. The C1 category, which includes businesses like newspaper and stationery shops, florists, vegetable and fruit stalls, clinics and fastfood outlets, can exist legally in any road that has a minimum width of 30 feet.

Infographic

• Improving the Ease of doing Business ratings was one of the reasons behind CZR.
•  Implementation of Model Building Bye Law by the central government was imperative by the state government.
•  No major commercial activity will be allowed on the 9 metre road aside from ATM kiosks, petty shops and milk parlours.

Severe lack of urban planning, say experts
The now-hackneyed term “ease of doing business”, policyspeak for government proposals that send citizens into a tizzy, is, unsurprisingly, the reason behind the new draft of the Common Zonal Regulation (CZR). Citizens’ ire notwithstanding, the Karnataka State Town Planning Department believes that the new zoning regulation is necessary for ‘ease of doing business’, with L Shashikumar, Director, KSTPD, saying, “Uniform guidelines are required to regulate developmental activity. There was a need to update old rules and the revision is intended as an ease of doing business initiative by the government.”

In 2016, Karnataka slipped to rank 13 from rank 9 in 2015 in ease of doing business ratings, with the Urban Development department being among those that pulled down the state’s position. “This is one of the reasons why we came up with the regulation. However, the technical issue in implementing Model Building Bye Law by the central government was also at the back of our minds as the draft was being formulated,” Mr Shashikumar added.

Commenting on the state of urban planning, Mahesh Kashyap, consultant with the Centre for Sustainable Development says, “We do not have urban planning in this country. God knows what the officials do. Cottonpet, which has a road that is less than 20 feet wide sees rampant commercialisation.If the new draft is implemented, we will witness slow traffic movement, which is the primary cause of air pollution. It will also lead to an increase in noise pollution,” he added.

Urban Expert Mr V Ravichander says the standardisation of rules across the state irrespective of size is not desirable. “They are overriding the Master Plan. This will make the plan lose its sanctity. The city should be liveable. If it is not, businesses will not come to the city either. I believe the master plan should be strengthened,” says Mr Ravichander. However, citizens can send their objections to the urban department till July 30.