A complaint against erring establishments, individuals or even the civic agencies may or may not get a solution, but citizens or RWAs are sure to have their identities revealed, making it a complainant vs. establishment battle. Citizens and RWAs are now demanding anonymity of the complainants.

Sneha Nandihal, a resident of Indiranagar, actively fighting illegal commercialisation in the area, had a bitter experience recently. She lodged a complaint against a contractor laying power lines for taking them through a sewage manhole and the Bangalore Electricity Supply Company (Bescom) served the contractor a notice referring to her complaint with her name given out. “The contractor called me to convince me to take back the complaint,” she said.

This is not the first time such an instance has occurred. “When we flag violations of zonal norms by commercial establishments, the Bruhat Bengaluru Mahanagara Palike (BBMP) regularly gives out our identities in the notices they serve on these establishments, creating a rift in the area and sometimes even fears for our safety,” she said.

Threats and intimidation

A resident activist from east Bengaluru, who did not wish to be, named said that the owner of the commercial establishment he had flagged for a zonal norm violation had come to his house and even threatened him, pushing him back from making similar complaints. “The BBMP had given out my name,” he said.

Satya Achayya, a resident of Nandidurg Extension, said she has also faced intimidation from those against whom she lodged complaints with civic agencies for violations.

It can be a lot worse, says Nitin Seshadri, a resident of Koramangala. “In some cases, BBMP officials have asked the erring commercial establishments to get a No Objection Certificate (NOC) from specific residents who have lodged complaints. We have had cases where some have come home and cried while some have intimidated,” he said, alleging that civic officials even showed the houses of the complainants in certain cases.

“As a citizen, I have pointed out to a violation of law that the government agency needs to implement. Why would the agencies serve a notice to the violator essentially saying they were serving the notice as someone had taken objection? Is the government agency not interested in implementing the law itself,” asks Ms. Nandihal.

Another resident alleged that revealing the identity was deliberate attempt to engineer a push back of activism, as these complaints often disturb a status quo monetarily beneficial to civic officials.

BBMP says

BBMP commissioner B.H. Anil Kumar said that referring to the complaint from which the notice emerged had been a practice for long, but added, he saw the point in the demand for anonymity of the complainant and would consider withholding this information.