The Bangalore Development Authority (BDA) is contemplating an amendment to the Comprehensive Development Plan 2015 (CDP) in view of the interim direction of the High Court to cease commercial activity in residential zones.
As per the amendment suggested by the BDA, all commercial activities on ancillary land will be stopped. The ancillary land use allows the land owners to construct up to 20 per cent of the total built up area if the plot faces a 60 feet road. With the proposed amendment, the luxury will not be available for the owners.
Sources in the BDA told Deccan Herald that the amendment will help curb complaints on commercialisation of land near residential localities.
“There has been an increase in the number of complaints after the High Court order. The proposed amendment will help us tackle the problem of commercial structures in residential zones,” a BDA official said.
According to sources, the amendment has been put forth before the government two months ago, subsequent to the High Court order, and it was for the government to take a final decision.
On whether the amendment will come into force with retrospective effect, officials said the final order of the High Court would decide on the action to be initiated against commercial properties that have cropped up in the residential zones.
Final order
“We cannot expect people to hand over their properties which they have invested in, legally. The provisions in the CDP, currently, are clear to the effect that ancillary land use benefits can be utilised by land owners. However, the High Court final order has to be factored in before initiating any action,”said the BDA official.
However, sources indicate that the ancillary land use has been ‘misinterpreted’ and/or ‘exploited’ by real estate developers over the years. The concept provides that land tracts in residential zones can be used to build eateries, gyms and marriage halls.
IT firms occupying land
But over time, IT and ITES companies have begun to occupy ancillary lands. Further, big hotels have cropped up in residential localities under the name of eateries. On January 25, the Division Bench comprising Chief Justice Vikramajit Sen and Justice B V Nagarathna had directed the government, the BDA and the Bangalore Metropolitan Region Development Authority to restrain from granting permission for commercial activities in purely residential zones, as marked in Comprehensive Development Plan 1995.
The order was passed during the hearing of a batch of petitions challenging the merits of the master plan 2015.
The 17 petitioners, including the Citizen Action Forum, Sadashivanagar Residents’ Welfare Association and other private individuals had contended that BDA’s formulation of the Revised Master Plan 2015 and its approval by the State government were ‘illegal.’
The main contention was with regard to the several new categories of zones, such as ‘mixed zones’, ‘mutation corridors’, ‘transformation zones’ and ‘ancillary land use’ all of which they claimed to be ultra vires.