MC Sunanda is a fiesty 65-year-old woman who is a resident activist of sorts in Sector 1. She has successfully fought against polluters and illegal occupants in her neighbourhood in the past and her latest is against a tenant in front of her house. “The occupants of site number 1879 on 21st A Main have no water facility or drainage. They wash, cook and dirty the place. They use firewood and pollute the area. They urinate in the site itself. It is causing nuisance and is an ugly sight in the morning.”
She has not only informed the landlord of this site but also complained to the BBMP way back in August, but no action has been taken so far. “I have also spoken to the site owner’s husband on the phone. They are aware of it. I have sent the pictures,” says Sunanda. “They wash the clothes, there’s no drainage, mosquitoes breed there, please ensure that they vacate the place. A family of four are staying there and they cook openly with firewood.”
To make matters worse, the site owner K Kavitha has it on record that it’s a vacant site when there is a room with people living in it. “The site is let out for ironing of clothes and a cart is parked and thereby made commercial,” says Sunanda. Can a citizen give wrong declaration to the authorities and get away with it by troubling the honest tax payers?
The wrong declaration that it’s a vacant site
The site owner is paying tax for a vacant site when she has a shed with people living in it
We reached out to site owner’s husband Gopinath K and this is what he had to say: “I had visited the spot last month. Let me take a look at the issue again and then respond. I definitely understand the issues concerning the neighbours and will get back to you.”
Sunanda has this to all the site owners erecting temporary sheds to house people. “These site owners declare to BBMP as vacant site, but construct a shed and let it out without any plan sanction and sanitary connection,” says Sunanda.
She is just as angry with the BBMP for inaction. “Inspite of me giving all the details such as phone number and address of the owner, BBMP has utterly failed in discharging their duties. BBMP does not respect people who follow the law, instead it encourages people who violate it Is BBMP set up to protect law offenders?”
HER PAST SUCCESSES
A similar case had stared her in the face when a woman was staying in a shed diagonally opposite her house. It was yet another hygiene issue and when she gave a police complaint, the owner of the site where the shed was built got the maid to vacate it.
Two years ago, there were huts where about 10 people were staying and creating a health and hygiene issue. She called the police and got them removed too. “The owners want to preserve their site at the cost of our hygiene,” says Sunanda.
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