Will probe high-rise apartments violating laws: Siddaramaiah

Karnataka government would initiate a probe into the unauthorised high-rise residential apartments in Bengaluru and take stringent action against builders violating laws, Chief Minister Siddaramaiah said here today. "We will inspect above 15-metre-tall apartments in Bengaluru and initiate stern action against builders violating the construction norms," he said in the Legislative Assembly here.

Siddaramaiah asserted that his government is "not under the spell" of the builder lobby and would not hesitate to take action against them "however strong and influential they may be". Replying to a question raised by Congress MLA Ramesh Kumar, he said a senior officer would conduct a probe into the matter.

Siddaramaiah said, in all 97 high-rise buildings had come up in Bengaluru in the last five years after obtaining clearance from nine agencies, including Karnataka State Pollution Control Board.

BJP's C T Ravi alleged that "highly influential politically-connected" builders had raised most of the high-rise buildings in Bengaluru. "There are over 9,000 unauthorised high-rise apartments in Bengaluru," he said. "The civic bodies like Bengaluru Development Authority and Bruhat Bengaluru Mahanagar Palike, have not acted against these violations," Kumar had earlier complained.