Vacant Sites in Bengaluru: What GBA May Charge If You Miss the 15 August Deadline

Vacant-site owners across Bengaluru have been asked to remove accumulated waste, garbage, soil and debris by 15 August 2026. If a site remains unclean after the deadline, the jurisdictional municipal corporation may arrange removal and recover cleaning and transportation charges from the owner along with property tax.

The direction appears in a Greater Bengaluru Authority public notice dated 10 August 2026, issued as part of the August “Freedom from Waste” campaign.

Deadline: Clean the site and complete authorised disposal by 15 August 2026. Keep photographs, invoices, vehicle details and disposal receipts wherever available.

Notice reference: Greater Bengaluru Authority Public Notice Ref. No. CC/PS/PR/240/2026-27, dated 10 August 2026. The signed PDF is available in the Documents section below.

What owners are required to do

• Remove waste, debris, soil and other discarded material from the vacant site.
• Use only the disposal locations identified by the jurisdictional municipal corporation.
• Use a notified service provider where assistance is required.
• Preserve evidence showing when the site was cleaned and where the material was disposed of.
• Prevent fresh dumping after the clean-up.

Charges published in the GBA notice

\*The signed English notice prints ₹17,750 for the 1,500-sq.-ft. site with a compound wall. This incorporates the correction circulated with the notice.

What would the owner pay in total?

These totals simply add the cleaning and transportation figures in the published table. They do not include any separate penalty, tax arrears, interest or other recovery that may apply in an individual case.

Is there a per-square-foot basis?

The public notice does not state a formula. However, the numbers reveal a strong pattern:

There is one important inconsistency. At the recurring cleaning rate, a 4,000-sq.-ft. site would work out to about ₹44,667 without a compound wall. The published table instead states ₹46,700. That is roughly ₹2,033 higher. The notice does not explain whether this is a different slab, rounding method, special rate or typographical issue.

For that reason, the inferred per-square-foot figures should help owners understand the schedule—but should not be treated as an official assessment formula.

Worked examples

1,000-sq.-ft. site

The notice does not contain a separate 1,000-sq.-ft. tariff row. Applying the recurring pattern only as an illustration:

One-acre site

One acre is 43,560 sq. ft. Applying the same recurring pattern only as an illustration:

These are not official demands or quotations. The notice says charges for larger plots will be proportionate to the site area, but it does not identify the reference slab or explain whether the final recovery will also depend on measured quantities or actual expenditure. Owners of large properties should request a written calculation from their municipal corporation.

Where can the waste be taken?

The signed notice directs owners to use locations identified by the jurisdictional municipal corporation but does not list them on the page. Press reports identify five locations: Yarappanahalli, Marenahalli, Venkatapura, Vittasandra and Kallubalu. Owners should confirm the currently authorised location before transporting material.

Press reports also state that citizens can report illegal dumping through WhatsApp on 94481 97197, with complainant details kept confidential. As contact arrangements can change, verify the number and process before relying on it.

Legal basis—and one wording issue

The notice refers to bye-law 18(1)(b) of the Solid Waste Management Bye-laws, 2020 for an owner’s duty to maintain a vacant site. For recovery, it cites bye-law 18(1)(d)(ii) and section 285(2).

Section 285(2) authorises a corporation, through regulations, to provide for the recovery of charges and the imposition of penalties on persons directly responsible for pollution. It does not itself publish the rate formula shown above.

The English notice calls the statute the “Greater Bengaluru Administration Act, 2024.” The enacted law available on India Code is the Greater Bengaluru Governance Act, 2024, Karnataka Act 36 of 2025. This naming discrepancy does not alter the immediate practical message: owners should clean their sites before the deadline and obtain written clarification where the assessment is uncertain.

What to do before 15 August

1. Visit or inspect the site immediately.
2. Photograph its present condition.
3. Ask the jurisdictional corporation for the authorised disposal location and notified service-provider list.
4. Complete cleaning and disposal before 15 August 2026.
5. Photograph the cleaned site and retain bills, receipts and disposal records.
6. If a charge is later raised, ask for the measurement sheet, rate basis, transport calculation and legal provision used.

Bottom line

For the first four listed plot sizes, the published schedule behaves like a combined charge of roughly ₹43.17 per sq. ft., plus ₹1,000 where there is a compound wall. But the unexplained 4,000-sq.-ft. entry and the absence of a disclosed formula mean owners—especially those with large plots—should not rely on an estimate alone.

The safest course is simple: clean the site before 15 August, use an authorised disposal route, preserve proof, and seek a written calculation if any amount is demanded.

This article is a public-information explainer and not legal advice. Readers should rely on the signed notice, subsequent clarifications and written directions from the jurisdictional municipal corporation.

Sources

• Greater Bengaluru Authority, signed public notice Ref. No. CC/PS/PR/240/2026-27 dated 10 August 2026.
• India Code — Greater Bengaluru Governance Act, 2024
• The Indian Express — vacant-site clean-up direction and enforcement details
• The Economic Times — cost recovery and property-tax collection
• Vijay Karnataka — five disposal locations