'High-tension' threat to 7000 illegal buildings in Bengaluru: Report
Bengaluru: Nearly 7,000 buildings in Bengaluru are dangerously close to high-tension (HT) power lines maintained by the Karnataka Power Transmission Corporation Limited (KPTCL), raising serious safety concerns amid recurring incidents of electrocution in the city.
This is despite the KPTCL identifying the structures four years ago and asking the Bruhat Bengaluru Mahanagara Palike to clear them, as reported by Deccan Herald on Monday.
In 2021, KPTCL flagged thousands of buildings constructed in violation of safety norms, particularly those that failed to maintain the mandatory vertical and horizontal clearance from overhead power lines. The utility provider subsequently alerted the BBMP, urging immediate intervention to avert potential tragedies. However, no concrete action has been taken yet, DH quoted sources in the KPTCL as saying.
Officials stressed that KPTCL lacks the legal authority to demolish or evacuate illegal constructions and can only notify the appropriate municipal authorities. “We can only identify and alert the BBMP officials. It is the civic body’s responsibility to ensure that such illegal are evacuated or demolished,” the news outlet quoted a senior KPTCL official as saying.
BBMP officials, meanwhile, contend that legal hurdles have hampered their ability to act decisively. “All of these buildings are either built without a plan approval or have violated the approved plan. We have issued notices to clear them. However, many of them challenge the notice in the court and the legal battle is going on,” a senior BBMP official in the town planning department said.
Adding to the complexity, KPTCL officials alleged that corruption within the civic body may have enabled such unauthorised construction in the first place. “The BBMP officials couldn’t clear them because they would have allowed the construction taking a bribe,” DH quoted a KPTCL official as saying.
Let the Truth be known. If you read VB and like VB, please be a VB Supporter and Help us deliver the Truth to one and all.
Eight members suspended from Lok Sabha for 'unruly behaviour'
New Delhi (PTI): Eight Opposition members were suspended from the Lok Sabha on Tuesday for 'unruly behaviour', including for tearing papers and throwing them at the Chair.
As soon as the House met at 3 pm following multiple adjournments, Dilip Saika, who was in the Chair, named the eight Congress members.
Subsequently, Parliamentary Affairs Minister Kiren Rijiju read out a resolution seeking suspension of the eight members for the remaining period of the Budget session that is scheduled to conclude on April 2.
The House passed the resolution by a voice vote, following which the proceedings were adjourned for the day amid uproar.
Congress members, led by Leader of Opposition Rahul Gandhi, staged a protest outside Parliament building against suspension of party members from the Lok Sabha.
Since Tuesday afternoon, the House has been witnessing uproar after Gandhi was disallowed to cite an article based on excerpts from an unpublished 'memoir' of former Army chief M M Naravane on India-China conflict of 2020.
LoP Shri @RahulGandhi, Congress General Secretary & MP Smt. @priyankagandhi ji along with other MPs staged a strong protest at Makar Dwar, Parliament against the unjust suspension of eight Congress MPs and the India-US trade agreement.
— Congress (@INCIndia) February 3, 2026
👉This is an attack on parliamentary… pic.twitter.com/aEybMKmI8g
