HC order spells trouble for realtors

Major property developers and land owners in the City have adopted a wait and watch policy over the implications of the January 24 interim ruling of the High Court on zoning restrictions.

While some are confused, there are many seeking clarifications on the court’s order that residential zones should be in accordance with the Comprehensive Development Plan (CDP), 1995. 

Builders are seeking more clarity on what defines commercial and mixed zones. M Jayashankar, Chairman and Managing Director of Brigade Group, says there is a great deal of confusion as to what is mixed zone and what should be the ratio of residential and commercial spaces.

“Currently, we are following the government’s revised CDP 2015,” he said.  Jayashankar feels the Karnataka Town and Country Planning Act (KTCPA), which allows mixing commercial and residential zones to a certain extent, will become redundant with the latest court order.  “BDA authorities are already callous when it comes to following CDP 2015. They will cause further delay in clearing projects and will be confused between CDP 1995 and KTCPA,” he says.

But the court ruling is expected to arrest the trend of residential areas losing land to commercial enterprises. Builders, with the help of authorities, have misused the Revised Master Plan (RMP) 2015 to a great extent, forcing communities to relocate. The ruling, it is hoped, will also halt the practice of private individual land owners who, following the RMP 2015, have acquired prime lands hoping to convert them into commercial establishments.

Mukesh Kumar had purchased close to 23,000 sq ft of land next to Meenakshi Mall on Bannerghatta Road. He was anxious to know if there was any update on the HC ruling. “I was planning to provide the land for commercial establishments, but with this move I am in dilemma as residential areas have different land pricing and constraints,” he says.

Sushil Mantri, President of CREDAI and Chairman of Mantri Developers, says the CDP 2015 was kept open for public responses and was cleared after a proper legal process. He now wants to study the court order.

There were close to 7,000 objections filed by the public against RMP 2015. Many non-governmental organisations claim that BDA overlooked most or all of these objections and went ahead with RMP 2015, without consulting the Bangalore Metropolitan Region Development Authority.

While builders keep their fingers crossed on the final verdict of the HC, Bangaloreans harbour hopes that there will now be more space to live than to shop or work and the sky-rocketing rents may stabilise if there is more land available for residential zones.