GATED COMMUNITIES AND THE BBMP

Any citizen or an aggrieved community can lodge a police complaint against such groups or persons and can complain it to BDA/BMRDA/BBMP regarding such closures or barricading the roads and civic amenity sites.  All the roads and Civic Amenity sites belongs to the Government.  In case of illegal or unauthorized layouts claiming to be gated community, (without DC conversion and layout approval by BDA and BMRDA) the aggrieved citizens can complain about it to the BDA/BMRDA and to the local police.  Action will be initiated against such unauthorized layouts/illegal layouts under KTCP Act. The roads and CA sites in the approved(BDA/BMRDA/DTCP) layouts belongs to the Government.  The layouts which are not approved by the aforesaid authorities are illegal or unauthorised.  In such layouts, if the roads are barricaded or blocked by interest groups, the issue may be brought to the notice of the BDA/BMRDA/BBMP for appropriate action.

In May 2008, the BBMP issued a PUBLIC NOTICE with regard to barricading layouts and preventing use by general public. The notice says that there is no such concept as ‘Gated Community’ and that once such layouts are formed; they come under the jurisdiction of the respective municipal corporation.

By putting a barricade if the roads are closed, that closure is not permissible because what is recognised is only a layout. There is no special status to a gated community. In an approved layout, the roads and the civic amenity sites are relinquished in favour of the Governor of Karnataka or to the State Government.  As such, the roads and the CA sites becomes the property of the Government. So a gated community ultimately boils down to a layout, which is enclosed by a barricade or security. Nobody can be prevented from entering as such. Once the roads and the CA sites are relinquished in favour of the local authorities or the Govt or the Governor of karnataka, the right vests with the state and every citizen of the country can use such roads.