Notices issued to 277 unauthorised religious structures on government land

Days after submitting before the Karnataka High Court that it had identified 2,170 unauthorised religious structures on government property, the Bruhat Bengaluru Mahanagara Palike (BBMP), as of March 5, had issued show cause notices to 277 structures that were built after September 29, 2009, the cut-off date set by the apex court for preventing such constructions. BBMP Commissioner N. Manjunath Prasad told The Hindu that the civic body has given the management of these religious structures two weeks to respond to the notice. After receiving their response, the civic body will take a decision on a case-by-case basis and issue a summary order for the demolition of these structures. “The management will be required to demolish the respective structures. If they fail to do so, the BBMP will demolish it and recover the cost from them. A report on the same will be submitted to the High Court. The next hearing is on March 26,” he said.