Cleaning the owners mess

BANGALORE: The city is no longer unaccustomed to the menace of empty plots and the problems it poses. Many property owners leave their plot as it is with developing it. More often than not the owners either live in another part of the city or end up buying property and residing in a different city. As a result the empty plot is left unattended.According to the Bruhat Bangalore Mahanagara Palike officials in 2007, erstwhile commissioner Bharath Lal Meena had that the respective zonal officers would look into the matter. “If an unattended empty plot was found, a notice would be sent to the owner stating that he needs to tend to his property. If the owner did not acknowledge the matter, the corporation would clean the plot once, and if the same state persists, it will slap the owner with a penalty of three times the actual cost for clearing and transporting the waste from the site,” said an official. According to the BBMP, they would charge `1.10 paise for every square meter that is cleaned. And would charge `68 per cubic meter of vegetation that is transported.  Assistant Executive chief engineer (AEE) for Hoysala ward, M Sharif said that the debris is charged depending on the ‘tractor load’. He further added that the rates range between `300 and 500 for every two to three cubic metres of material collected. These rates would apply only for the first time as the same rate would be increased three fold if the site has to be cleaned again. In case the owner fails to pay the charges, the amount will be added to the following year’s Property Tax.However, the BBMP does face a challenge here. While the drive was in full swing in 2007, it has considerably lost momentum. One of the main reasons for that is that tracking the owner has become a tough task for them. While notices are still issued, the vacant plots are seldom cleaned. “It is not just the vegetation that is causing the problem. While the vegetation does serve as breeding ground for mosquitoes and a safe harbour for reptiles, these empty sites have also become the universal dumping ground for debris and reckless garbage disposal,”  said zonal chief engineer East, Somashekhar.He further added that while the number of vacant sites in the core area are very few, nevertheless, he has instructed his AEE to issue notice to the owners. New areas that have been added to the BBMP jurisdiction have many empty sites. According to BS Ramesh, Yalahanka chief engineer last year 300 sites were cleared in the  area. “The corporation had spent `6 lakhs to do the same, even though the owners were asked to shell out the amount, no one came forward. This year however, we have identified 584 such sites of different dimensions in one particular ward. The estimate amount required for clearing the site is `38 lakhs. Also, most of the sites here do not have a khatha, tracing the owner is very difficult, as a result we cannot issue the notice or charge them the amount in the next year’s property tax.”