Bengaluru, 27 August

Greater Bengaluru Minister Krishna Byre Gowda on Thursday symbolically launched the GBA’s drive to clean vacant plots and urged people to clean their vacant plots themselves to avoid higher charges from the civic body.

The Greater Bengaluru Authority (GBA) stated that the 22 August deadline given to property owners under the ‘Freedom from Waste’ campaign, which launched on 15 July, had expired. Owners of vacant plots were supposed to clear construction waste, garbage, and overgrown vegetation from their sites by then. 

Around 30 per cent of the owners had cleaned their sites themselves, Gowda said at Domlur in the Shantinagar Assembly constituency, but 70 per cent had not. Civic bodies began clearing sites from those owners, and the cost will be recovered from them through property tax. 

“Despite repeated appeals over the past one-and-a-half months, many owners had failed to clean their plots,” he said. “Overgrown weeds and bushes can lead to problems involving flies, mosquitoes, snakes and rats and also affect the City's overall sanitation.”

"It will cost you less if you clean your plot yourself than if the civic body does it. Keep your property clean and contribute to improving Bengaluru. I will personally send a letter of appreciation to owners who have cleaned their vacant plots themselves," he said.

Many vacant plots have extensive overgrowth and require heavy equipment for cleaning, with at least three hours needed to complete the work. Due to restrictions on the movement of tippers, the waste can be transported for disposal only once a day, the GBA stated.

The cleaning charges have been fixed according to the Schedule of Rates and based on the size of the vacant plot, Gowda added. If a compound wall has to be removed to carry out the cleaning, only the prescribed rate will be charged, but no additional charges will be applied to plots with gates.

"No penalty will be imposed when a vacant plot is cleaned for the first time. A penalty will be imposed as per the rules only if the same negligence is repeated," he said.