'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.
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41 lakh illicit liquor seized, 1.84 lakh arrested in major drive: K'taka Minister tells Assembly
Belagavi (Karnataka) (PTI): The Karnataka Excise Department has conducted a statewide crackdown on illegal liquor trade over the last two years, resulting in arrests and seizures of alcohol, Karnataka Excise Minister R B Timmapur said on Tuesday.
As many as 1,09,017 people were arrested, and seizures included 13.66 lakh litres of liquor and 27.19 lakh litres of beer, he said in a written reply to a starred question by Harihar BJP MLA B P Harish in the Karnataka Assembly.
The Minister said the enforcement drive covered the financial year 2023–24, 2024–25 up to June, and 2025–26 from July to October, targeting unauthorised liquor manufacture, storage, sale and transportation across the State.
"During this period, statewide enforcement drives resulted in a total of 1,84,570 raids against illegal liquor sales,” Timmapur said.
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He noted that 9,179 non-bailable cases and 91,968 bailable and compoundable cases under Section 15(A) of the Karnataka Excise Act, 1965, were registered during the same period.
According to him, there have been no reports indicating that students have become addicted to alcohol due to illegal liquor sales.
The sale of alcohol to minors is strictly prohibited under the Karnataka Excise Act, 1965, and the department has issued periodic instructions to initiate legal action against violators, with strict enforcement and investigation measures in place, the Minister said.
Excise officials are carrying out regular road and night patrols, collecting intelligence, monitoring habitual offenders and conducting raids to identify illicit distillation units, unauthorised liquor outlets and spurious liquor manufacturing centres, he said, adding the department is also enforcing the law to prevent the production, storage, sale and transport of spurious, non-duty-paid and unauthorised liquor.
Regular patrols are being conducted on national and state highways, with suspicious vehicles being subjected to checks.
At the district level, standing committee meetings are held under the chairmanship of Deputy Commissioners, and joint operations are carried out with the police and forest departments to curb excise-related offences.
The department is also conducting awareness programmes through Gram Sabhas and in schools and colleges to educate the public and students about the physical, mental and social health hazards associated with alcohol addiction and substance abuse, Timmapur added.
