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The court’s direction came on a public interest litigation filed by Wilson Garden Residents Welfare Association seeking direction to the BBMP to restrict commercial activities in Wilson Garden, a residential locality. A division bench of the High Court of Chief Justice Prasanna B Varale and Ashok S Kinagi directed the BBMP to conduct a survey through the chief engineer of the Wilson Garden area to assess commercial activities there.
Based on this report senior officers should prepare a plan that has to be submitted to the HC within three weeks. The HC also directed it to file a comprehensive report on the commercial activity in residential areas, the rules and regulations guiding them, the conditional permissions that can be issued and whether such permissions have been granted and periodic assessments carried out.
This report has to be filed within eight weeks. The petitioner said Wilson Garden locality has 14 cross roads and in the last four years, illegal commercial complexes have been established. Out of the 115 commercial complexes, only eight have BBMP’s official sanction, it has been claimed. The petition also complained that commercial activities on either side of the roads until late hours is a hazard for local residents.