Akrama sites, an enigma

The BBMP has land records of only the 100 old wards. It does not have a complete record of properties in the newly added 100 wards.

The Cabinet Sub-Committee will meet on August 3 to discuss the Akrama Sakrama (regularisation) issue as the penalty is yet to be finalised. However, other authorities concerned will be briefed later, said a Palike official.

Not clear

While it is unclear as to how the regularisation of the revenue sites will be carried out, insiders state that the State government may legalise only the sites and not illegal constructions for now.

“There is a possibility that the Government will be caught in a tangle if it legalises the buildings,” the official said. BBMP officials said that a survey of the lands on which illegal constructions have mushroomed will take a minimum of one to two years!

“We are now banking on the owners of these constructions to voluntarily come forward and register their properties taking advantage of the new amendment,” said a BBMP
official.

It is learnt that as many as 15 to 18 lakh properties have been constructed on these revenue lands that have no approval from the competent authorities or just have secured the approval from Deputy Commissioner. “These can also multiply in cases of properties that are high rise and have floor levels bought by various people,” said BBMP official.

As many as 108 unauthorised layouts have also been developed under the nose of the Bangalore Development Authority (BDA).

Regularisation

The list of these layouts was tabled by the Leader of the Opposition in the Legislative Council, V S Ugrappa, recently.

It is expected that these unauthorised layouts will also be regularised under the amendment brought to the Karnataka Land Revenue Act.

Questions are also being raised about constructions which have violated more than 25 per cent in the case of commercial properties and more than 50 per cent in respect of residential properties.

The State government, during the tenure of H D Kumaraswamy as chief minister, had passed an amendment to legalise violations up to 25 per cent for commercial properties and up to 50 per cent for residential properties.

Currently, the law is defunct with the new legislation all set to be out in the next few days.