The Karnataka High Court on Monday directed the Bruhat Bangalore Mahanagara Palike (BBMP) to re-examine issues related to the construction of a 16-storey apartment complex by Puravankara Projects Ltd. near the Defence Research and Development Organisation (DRDO) campus at C.V. Raman Nagar.
The court told the BBMP to look into every complaint by DRDO related to alleged violation of laws in the grant of approval for the building plans in 2007 and 2011 for construction of 660 flats at ‘Purva Seasons’, adjacent to the Centre for Artificial Intelligence and Robotics (CAIR). The BBMP has been specifically directed to re-examine whether Puravankara had the title deed of the land when the plan was sanctioned. The court’s direction to Puravankara not to aerially encroach upon the defence land during construction by using cranes stays.
Setback to DRDOThe court did not entertain the DRDO’s contention that the project would pose a security and safety threat to various defence research wings in the vicinity. However, DRDO can approach the Supreme Court on the issue of keeping the land on which the project is coming up free of construction under Section 3 of the Works of Defence Act, 1903. Pointing out that the DRDO could not produce any material on the safe distance to be maintained from a defence establishment, the court noticed that there are several other high-rise buildings like Bagmane Tech Park and August Park near the DRDO’s research wings.
The court observed that DRDO could not establish how only Puravankara’s project is affecting it.
