Bengaluru’s setback dilemma

The city has many buildings with G+3 and G+4 and no proper breathing space. The legality of such buildings hangs in balance

Bengaluru: A layout in north Bengaluru sports many buildings built on 40X60 sites. Four floors above the basement are meant for car parking, with no space left on the sides. 

As per the Bruhat Bengaluru Mahanagara Palike’s bylaws, a specified space based on dimensions and road width—also called setbacks—should be left on all sides of the building, but in some cases, none are left.

One such building has two houses on each floor, with four floors. The small-time builder who wanted to sell one such unit in the building says it did not have an occupancy certificate but did have a khata, so getting bank loans would not be a problem. 

When asked about setbacks, he says it is impractical to leave them in the 2,400 sqft he gets to build—it takes away more than 800 sqft of space, and the floor area becomes less.

Many buyers who cannot afford to buy homes built by big builders go for such buildings, which typically cost under Rs 1 crore for a home with two or three bedrooms, a hall, and a kitchen. However, they sometimes get stuck with properties not built according to bylaws because of deceptive documents and no other legal problems they find during checks—sometimes by design.

Even sub-registrars do not know what properties are legal or illegal, which makes the sale smooth. The problem occurs only when the law catches up with the buyer, which may not happen at all sometimes.

The city has thousands of such buildings, many with A khatas. How does the buyer figure out what is legal or illegal?

When is it legal?

“The number of floors in a building depends on the FAR/FSI allowed, plot size, road widths, and recommended setbacks. The revised master plan 2015 allows for constructing a G+4 building with a setback of 5 m for above 11.5 metres, considering each floor to have a height of about 3 m,” says Yashaswini Sharma, an architect based in Bengaluru.

If the site was typically small, upto a width/depth of 9 metres, the setback to be allowed was 1 metre on all sides. Above that, 8% setback had to be left on all sides and 12% of the front side.

Officials say the rule was amended in May 2022 for constructions above 11.5 metres to reduce the setback area to a minimum of 3 metres on the front, 2 metres on the rear side and 1.2 metres on the left and right sides for all properties measuring under 750 sq metres.

Bruhat Bengaluru Mahanagara Palike (BBMP) officials say things work out differently in practice than on paper for practical reasons. While the rules for Karnataka state and many others do not allow the treatment of a car parking area as a basement, Bengaluru has had some exceptions.

An official says that on a plot of 30X40 or 30X50, the ground floor can be taken as a stilt floor (for parking). Three floors can be constructed above it with proper setbacks, adhering to FAR rules, and are legally accepted. The same rule applies to buildings that are G+4, where the first floor is treated as the ground floor.

“Parking problems in the city have made such tweaks necessary for Bengaluru. Old buildings were not planned with parking in mind. As a result, we see parking on roads today. Doesn't this need to be solved?” he asks.

The action

The buildings with four floors on a 30X40 site that came up before this rule are still illegal. However, any action on such buildings might prove tricky for various reasons.

Sometimes, the profile of the complainant matters, while the builder’s background may be a deterrent for any action at other times. 

Vijayan Menon, co-founder of Citizens Action Forum that fought Akrama Sakrama in court, has two examples to share. “In one case, a six-floor building was coming up where only five floors were permitted. I managed to stop it by complaining to the Assistant Executive Engineer (AEE) of the ward. Usually, a normal citizen cannot stop such constructions just by complaining,” he says. 

In another example, a court order was secured to demolish an illegal construction. But even after 100 days, the structure was not demolished. “The builder had a particular background—he was powerful. In such cases, demolition does not happen easily,” he adds.

Another politically sensitive reason for no action is the economic class of people who buy such properties. “Those who build more floors than permitted in smaller sites such as 30X50 without setbacks are working and middle class. There are instances of politicians saying that demolishing such houses will adversely affect them,” says an official.

This point of view is also reflected in the politics of the day, which led to the Akrama Sakrama scheme, which included regularising bylaw violation cases.

“I have seen civilians blatantly disregard the rules, even encroach setbacks and project their buildings over site lines in residential areas, all with a declaration that they need more space. If a specific violation isn't directly reported to the BBMP, the officials remain unaware of violations,” says Yashaswini.

In 2022, Namma Bengaluru Foundation (NBF) wrote to the then chief minister Basavaraj Bommai, indicating no objection to the Akrama Sakrama scheme as long as it helps no big builder.

The remedy

The government is banking on the Akrama Sakrama scheme. The new Greater Bengaluru Governance Bill referred to the House Committee also has a section on the regularisation of illegal properties.

Vijayan says the regularisation of violations has no end. “Policies such as Akrama-Sakrama embolden violations,” Yashaswini adds.

“The situation is such that we all allow the wrong thing, knowing it is wrong. If we demolished all illegal buildings, half of Bengaluru would be demolished, and lives would be affected,” the official adds.

Akrama-Sakrama cases are still pending in the Supreme Court. In all likelihood, the court will not allow the regularisation of illegal buildings that violate bylaws. 

However, another official says that even if the Supreme Court allows the current Akrama Sakrama scheme, “it regularises only 10% of the buildings in Bengaluru because it allows the regularisation of buildings with only upto 50% deviation. Violations are more than 75% in most cases.”

“The city does not have a master plan. If you want to allow more floors and no setbacks, tweak the rules accordingly, consider citizens’ views, weigh in and make new rules. Have a law and follow it. Not following a law just gives scope for corruption and favouritism,” says Vijayan.

“When purchasing from a builder, one must always check relevant permission documents, plan sanction documents, and land ownership and occupancy certificates,” Yashaswini cautions.

The official suggests incentivising legal buildings in various ways to control illegality. “Tax the properties higher and charge them more for services. And give rebates for each adherence. If they have rainwater harvesting systems, give a discount on the water bill. If there are proper setbacks, have tax rebates,” he adds.