Karnataka Lokayukta Justice B.S. Patil pulled up the Bruhat Bengaluru Mahanagara Palike (BBMP) for its criminal negligence that led to the building collapse in Hennur (Babusabpalya) in northeast Bengaluru that claimed eight lives.
Eight people have lost their lives in the collapse and search is on for the missing persons. The under-construction six-storeyed apartment building collapsed on Tuesday evening around 4 pm even as rains lashed the city.
“This incident has brought us all a lot of angst. We need to find out who is at fault. We have filed a suo moto case. During our inspection today we found out that this building has no license, nor a sanctioned plan. This illegal building has been constructed for the last two years. Yet the BBMP officials have not bothered to stop the construction work and they waited till they built four storeys to issue a notice. This is a case of dereliction. We will summon the officials concerned,” said Justice Patil, soon after inspecting the site.
“The BBMP should stop this drama of issuing notices to the violators,” said Justice Patil.
The Bengaluru police arrested the building owner Muniraja Reddy, his son Bhuvan and the contractor Muniyappa. The BBMP officials suspect that the building collapsed due to the weak structure and claimed that it had permitted only three storeys on the plot measuring 60ft by 40 ft, but the owner had illegally constructed six floors and that it had issued notices to demolish the same. The civic body has ordered an inquiry, while suspending the assistant executive engineer (Horamavu) Vinay K for failing to demolish the illegal portions of the building.
According to sources, at least 20 labourers from Yadgir district of Karnataka, Bihar and Andhra Pradesh were working in the building at the time of the collapse. The fire and emergency team, the National Disaster Response Force (NDRF) and SDRF teams have so far, rescued 14 people trapped in the building rubble.
Prime Minister Narendra Modi, in his social media post, announced ex-gratia of Rs 2 lakh each from PMNRF to the next of kin of the deceased and Rs 50,000 each to the injured and said, “Anguished by the loss of lives due to the collapse of a building in Bengaluru. My thoughts are with all those who have lost their loved ones. I pray that the injured recover soon.”
Earlier, Bengaluru development minister DK Shivakumar who visited the spot said, "It is a big crime to build such a huge building on a 60/40 plot. The officials said that they have issued notices three times. If notices were already issued, they should have taken strict action against the violator too. This is a big lesson for us. Stringent action will be taken against those who are constructing buildings without taking permission from the civic body. A survey will be carried out to identify the illegal buildings in the city and also the violators who have flouted the norms by not securing a license, fitness certificate or approved building design and plan,” said Shivakumar, adding that he would instruct the revenue department not to register properties that have no sanctioned building plan.
“Some people build without a sanctioned plan for fraudulent land transactions. This is illegal and the RERA Act is in force to prevent such illegalities,” added the deputy chief minister.
Siddaramaiah visits spot
Chief Minister Siddaramaiah who visited the spot on Thursday announced a compensation of Rs 5 lakh each to the family of the deceased workers. This includes Rs 3 lakh from BBMP and Rs 2 lakh from the Labour department. "This was an illegal building. The BBMP had issued notices to the building owner. Eight people lost their lives while eight others have been rescued. The state government will give Rs 5 lakh each as ex gratia to the families of the deceased and also bear the treatment expenses of the injured workers," said the CM, cautioning people against building unauthorised buildings.