Will demolish unauthorised, dilapidated buildings in Bengaluru: DK Shivakumar

DK Shivakumar held a meeting centred around damage caused by recent rain and the damage caused by it with Chief Minister Siddaramaiah at the Vidhana Soudha on Saturday.

In Short

• DK Shivakumar says unauthorised construction will be stopped
• Says civic agencies have been given all authority to take action
• 8 people were killed in a building collapse in Bengaluru last week

Days after an under-construction building collapsed amid heavy rain in Bengaluru, Karnataka Deputy Chief Minister DK Shivakumar said that the drive to demolish unauthorised and substandard quality buildings would be carried out in the city.

At least eight people died after an under-construction building collapsed in Bengaluru's Hennur, in an area called Babusapalya, amid heavy rainfall in the city on Tuesday.

Addressing a joint press conference with Chief Minister Siddaramaiah at the Vidhana Soudha after a meeting to assess the damage caused by recent rain, Shiva Kumar said, "We have decided to stop unauthorised construction of buildings. The previous government had curtailed the powers of officials to take action against unauthorised construction. But our government has decided to give powers of stopping such construction to BBMP, BDA, BMRDA too".

He said that the registration of unauthorised properties will also be stopped and at the same time, the focus will also be on clearing encroachments in the city.

Asked about criticism by the Opposition leaders about flood relief works in the state, the Bengaluru Development Minister said, "Two children drowned in a lake in Bengaluru and people died due to substandard construction. There have been no rain-related deaths in the city. We have placed the flood-affected people in hotels and have made arrangements for food. Our officials worked 24x7".

Asked if there was a permanent solution to flooding, the Congress leader replied the government has decided to build storm water drains and develop roads along those storm water drains.

"The roads alongside storm water drains protect buildings in the area and also provide easy access to cleaning and desilting of storm water drains. In the first phase, we would build about 300 kms of such roads", he emphasised.

The Karnataka government has also given instructions to District Collectors to extend compensation wherever there is damage to crops due to rains, the Deputy Chief Minister said.