JOIN USBut the five lakh plus residents with their houses built on revenue lands (agricultural land not converted for other uses) beg to differ. “I have a house in JP Nagar VI phase, Nrupathunga Nagar that has been DC Converted but not registered. The regularisation will be a big relief for people like us,” said Ananthapadmanabha, Secretary, Nrupathunganagar Layout RWA.
The passage of a Bill in the State Legislative Assembly providing for regularisation of illegal sites and layouts has set off a fresh debate on the move. The much-hyped measure was put on hold in the wake of opposition to the hefty fee fixed for regularisation. This time round, the Government is yet to finalise the fee.
“It is simply a case of subverting the rule of law and protecting the land developers’ lobby,” contended Citizen Action Forum member, Col Matthew. The developers had bought agricultural land and got it converted with the approval of the Deputy Commissioner (DC) and gone no further. “They have neither the approval of Bangalore Development Authority (BDA) nor of Bangalore Metropolitan Region Development Authority (BMRDA), thus putting the buyers of these sites at the mercy of Akrama-Sakrama (regularisation) drive,” alleged Matthew.
Kathyayini Chamaraj, member of CIVIC, a non-governmental organisation, echoed the same opinion by stating that ‘in principle’ the legislation cannot be accepted. “The government, by legalising the revenue sites, is doing nothing but encouraging illegal construction,” she said.