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BPS Parking Norms Ignored
Posted by Pradeep Sadanapalli | May 18, 2008 | 317 views
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Loading ...Civic authorities, desperate to raise revenue, are regularising unauthorised additional floors under the Building Penalisation Scheme (BPS) even if they do not have adequate parking facility.
Officials have decided to regularise even residential buildings that have been converted to commercial use without insisting on mandatory parking area.
They are only insisting that building owners pay double the penalty under BPS.
Once this is paid, owners can get away with not providing additional parking space in the area allotted for the purpose.
A large number of such property owners have applied for regularisation under BPS and the issue is likely to snowball into a controversy once officials start disposing applications.
Lack of parking space has already emerged as a major problem in residential apartments and commercial establishments in the city.
Flat owners of several residential and commercial complexes are complaining about being forced to share parking space with others.
Sources told this correspondent that the guidelines for regularisation under BPS were silent on parking provision for additional floors and in instances of residential buildings being converted for commercial purposes.
“The BPS guidelines are very clear that no construction, residential, semi-residential, or commercial should be regularised if they had come up in the area earmarked for parking in origi nal building plan,” said the source. “However, there is no mention of parking space to be provided in case the builder adds more floors.” Almost every other inner street in the city has residential buildings that were converted for commercial use without permission from municipal authorities.
By regularising these buildings without insisting on parking space, the officials are adding to an already vexed problem.
Narrow inner streets are already choked with vehicles parked on either side of the road.
“Officials only want to mint money through BPS,” said the United Resident Welfare Associations President, Mr Rao B.V. Chelikani. “It is certainly an anti-social decision to regularise additional floors and unauthorised commercial buildings without insisting on sufficient parking facility.” The GHMC additional commissioner, Mr K. Dhanunjaya Reddy, said that parking space was not being insisted upon in the case of regularisation of additional floors or commercial buildings in residential areas.
SOURCES:
Deccan Chronicle
Topics: Public Concerns, Govt Failures |
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