War on commerce: Will we pay with our spirit?

The hue-and-cry over traders operating out of residential areas continues, nearly two years after the BBMP issued notices. While Resident Welfare Associations are only upping the amplitude of their protests, the problem is far more nuanced. Is rooting out commercial activity a fair or practical solution? Or will rooting out the thriving commercial activity also steal Bengaluru of its vibrant, cosmopolitan spirit, asks Aknisree Karthik 

With Bengaluru attracting people from all over the country due to its vibrancy and weather, the city is brimming over with a population of 1.2 crore today. The result has not only been chaotic traffic on its roads but also chaos in its residential areas where commercial establishments have been stealthily mushrooming without the permission of the authorities concerned.

As the narrow lanes and bylanes of these localities are seeing growing congestion and noise pollution as a result of these illegal commercial establishments, residential welfare associations have jumped into the act to demand an end to the menace.

The BBMP did take action in 2016 by issuing public notices and individual notices to illegal commercial establishments operating in residential areas, but till date no significant crackdown has been seen on the ground.

Even the committee that was to be set up following a discussion on the issue in a BBMP council meeting in January 2017, to take the action against illegal commercial establishments forward, remains on paper still. With no clarity in the matter,  BBMP officials have been turning a blind eye to this blatant violation.
Fed up RWAs, which are fighting to retain the quiet and peace of their neighbourhoods, have warned that they may be forced to take legal action in the matter even if this requires them to pool money to raise the funds needed.

Says Mr Aruna Newton, president, Citizens' for Civic Action, “RWAs have been aggressively pursuing and engaging with the BBMP and government to solve this issue once for all. Before we take the legal route, we are trying really hard to exhaust all the other avenues to stop commericalisation of residential areas.

We firmly believe that change can happen by involvement of citizens. But it is the BBMP in this case which should be upholding the law and taking action against illegal commercial units in our midst, which are violating the zonal regulations and building by-laws.”

The civic activist alleges that government officers and private entrepreneurs are working in collusion to ruin the peace of residential areas. “What is worrying is that even today residential buildings are putting up boards offering to rent out space for commercial establishments,” she laments.

Despite the concerns raised, all Mayor Sampath Raj would say when contacted was that the BBMP had received requests from the RWAs to shut down the illegal establishments in residential areas and the matter would be discussed at the next council meeting.

‘Shows lack of political will’
While Chief Minister H D Kumaraswamy has promised to give priority to  improving the city and solving its problems, many are unsure if he will be able to stem the growing commercialisation of residential areas.

Sharing his views, brand expert, Harish Bijoor says in most areas of Bengaluru it is difficult to segregate the commercial from the residential. “One cannot with the stroke of a pen harm businesses and commercial establishments of every kind that have slowly but surely snaked their way into residential areas. But at the same time, it is unfair to the people who live there to have their quiet destroyed by their presence," he observes.

While he suggests a compromise, giving the noisy businesses the marching orders and allowing the quiet  to stay on, civic evangelist, Ravichandar says illegal commercial establishments in residential areas cannot be tolerated. That they do exist is a sign of lack of political will and administrative firmness in implementing the rule of law , he maintains.

“It is an open secret that our city is full of illegal commercial establishments and little is being done to address the problem. Unless there is political will and a strong law that holds officials accountable and levies heavy fines on them, we will always be in this situation of empty threats and no follow- up,” says Mr Srinivas Alavilli, co-founder of Citizens for Bengaluru.

“All that Mr Kumaraswamy needs to do is simply instruct officials of all departments and the BBMP to uphold the zoning and safety laws.  Zero tolerance for violations will ensure a proper balance between commercial and residential areas. Empowering the Lokayukta too will take care of a lot of these things," he says. Lamenting that Bengaluru is losing a lot of its character because of the BBMP’s utter failure to do its job, the activist believes empowering ward committees to address such issues could be part of the solution.

Q&A with Sampath Raj, Bengaluru Mayor

‘Didn’t have clarity on how to proceed, will raise issue at next council meeting’

In 2016 the BBMP issued a public notice and served thousands of individual notices on illegal commercial units operating in residential areas, but has anything been achieved?
Yes we did issue public notices in newspapers and also asked our officials to serve individual notices to the illegal commercial units.

What is stopping  BBMP officials from taking action against them? Are they turning a blind eye as their palms have been greased or are they afraid of their political masters?
We have been asking the illegal commercial units to shut down their operations voluntarily. Our officials too have been following up on this.

At a BBMP council meeting in January last year it was decided that a committee would be set up to look into the pros and cons of the move, but was it set up?
No, the committee was not set up as there was no clarity on how to take this forward. We have been receiving requests from the RWAs to shut down the illegal commercial establishments in residential areas. We will discuss the matter in the upcoming BBMP council meeting.