Cabinet approval for penalty to regularise illegal urban structures

Annual income limit to buy agri land up from Rs 2L to Rs 25L

 The State Cabinet on Wednesday gave its approval for fixing the penalty amount for regularising unauthorised constructions on revenue land in urban areas, including Bengaluru.

Briefing reporters about the Cabinet decisions, Law Minister T B Jayachandra said unauthorised houses constructed before May 31, 2015, on plots measuring not more than 20x30 sq ft of revenue land will be eligible for regularisation.

The government has already brought in an amendment to Section 94 CC of the Karnataka Land Revenue (Second Amendment) Act for this purpose, he said.

Unauthorised constructions within 18 km of BBMP limits will have to pay 20 per cent of the guidance value as penalty, 15 per cent of guidance value for those located within 10 km of other city corporation limits, 10 per cent of the guidance value for those located within five km of city municipal council limits and three km of town panchayats.

 A different penalty slab has been fixed for SC/STs, the minister said. Asked whether the cut-off date will be extended for regularisation under the scheme, Jayachandra said the government would look into the possibility. This apart, the Cabinet gave its nod to increase the annual income limit for purchasing agriculture land from Rs 2 lakh to Rs 25 lakh.

TDR increased

The Cabinet gave approval to a proposal to increase the rate of Transferable Development Rights (TDR) from 1.5 times of guidance value of land to 2.5 times.

This has been done to enable all urban local bodies, including BBMP, to acquire land for taking up road-widening and other infrastructure projects.

He, however, did not reveal whether the floor area ratio (FAR) of buildings had been reduced or not.

The government had constituted an expert committee to look into anomalies in the TDR scheme.

 The panel had recommended a number of changes to the scheme to make it more attractive, including reduction of FAR for building construction and increasing the value of Transferable Development Rights  to 2.5 times the cost of land (guidance value).

Approval has been given for setting up a bench of Karnataka Administrative Tribunal (KAT) in Belagavi, the minister said.

Yellow beacon lights

The Cabinet approved a proposal to allow police vehicles, including traffic police, and deputy commissioners of districts and tahsildars to use yellow beacon lights.

“Use of yellow beacon lights for police vehicles have been allowed in the interest of maintaining law and order and ensuring smooth traffic flow,” Jayachandra said. Now, they are not allowed to use beacon lights. Usually, such lights are installed atop vehicles used by ministers and judges.

T B Jayachandra, Law Minister : Unauthorised houses constructed before May 31, 2015, on plots measuring not more than 20x30 sq ft of revenue land will be eligible for regularisation. The government has already brought in an amendment to Section 94 CC of the Karnataka Land Revenue Act