Only 20% of Bengaluru Vacant Plot Owners Clean Up; Civic Bodies to Clear Sites and Recover Cost Through Property Tax
Bengaluru, August 24: Only about 20% of vacant plot owners in some areas of Bengaluru cleaned their properties within the deadline set by the authorities, prompting the Karnataka government to direct the city’s five municipal corporations to identify and clean neglected sites and recover the cost through property tax.
Greater Bengaluru Development Minister Krishna Byre Gowda issued the directions during a virtual meeting on Monday to review the cleaning of vacant plots across the city.
Plot owners had been given time until August 22 to clean their properties themselves. However, the minister said that in some areas only around 20% of owners had carried out the work. He directed all five municipal corporations to make the necessary preparations and actively undertake cleaning of the remaining vacant plots.
The cost incurred by the civic authorities for cleaning private vacant plots should be recovered through property tax, he said.
Revenue officials have been directed to identify and prepare a list of vacant plots requiring cleaning. Marshals and junior health inspectors will then affix notices at the identified properties, after which the respective civic body will undertake the cleaning work.
Byre Gowda directed all municipal corporations to begin the exercise from Thursday and intensify it from the following Monday.
The civic bodies have also been asked to arrange JCBs, tippers, tractors and adequate personnel for the citywide drive. Steps should be taken to identify agencies that can be engaged for the cleaning work, he said.
The minister made geo-location-enabled video documentation mandatory before and after each plot is cleaned. Payments to contractors should be made on the basis of these video records, he directed.
Waste and debris collected during the exercise must not be dumped along roadsides or on other vacant land. It should be transported only to officially designated disposal locations, the minister said.
Officials of Bengaluru Solid Waste Management Limited were directed to ensure that end-to-end information on each cleaning operation is available on the ‘Clear It’ software developed for the drive.
The platform should also be modified to allow residents to report vacant plots that have not been cleaned, and the required feature should be developed immediately, Byre Gowda said.
Chief Commissioner Maheshwar Rao, municipal corporation commissioners Ramesh D.S., Pommala Sunil Kumar, Ramesh K.N., G. Jagadish and Dr Rajendra K.V., Bengaluru Solid Waste Management Limited CEO Karegowda, additional commissioners, joint commissioners, deputy commissioners, chief engineers and other officials attended the meeting.
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