JOIN USIt has been a nearly a year since the Supreme Court approved the formation of the Arkavathy Layout, but landowners allege that the Bangalore Development Authority (BDA) has still not been able to take possession of the land notified for the purpose.
As a result, touts and land sharks are persistently approaching the parties, who have given up their land for the layout, to denotify their properties, say insiders in the BDA and landowners.
Landowners believe that government inaction has fuelled a lot of confusion and left them in the lurch.
In one particular case, a landowner, who had readily parted with 12 acres for the layout, is still searching for answers over the BDA ‘blocking’ the land which they had been using for agricultural purposes. “Now, due to the government’s indecisiveness, land sharks and touts have been approaching me and a few others to get our land denotified,” said a landowner on condition of anonymity.
The landowner added that they had been waiting for the BDA to at least take possession of land and provide them with the revised compensation that had been awarded after the Supreme Court decision.
However, contradicting the landowners, BDA officials maintain that they had already taken possession of the land and the number of sites to be allotted to the land losers had also been decided. “We have taken possession of the land and have forwarded the same to the Deputy Secretary of the BDA for allotting the sites to the land losers. It is now up to the Deputy Secretary to take cognizance of the further procedures,” said a senior BDA official.
But allottees complain that the BDA has not been forthcoming with any information and has failed to provide the status report over their allotment. “It has been three months since the BDA assured us of the layout being formed on a war footing. But not a single stone has been overturned to achieve this goal,” said Sanjay Marlecha, Convenor for the Arkavathy Layout Allottees’ Association.
Marlecha adds: “It has been more than seven years since the allottees were promised sites. Most of them are from the middle class and cannot bear the steep hike in construction costs from 2005 to 2012. Also, most of them are over the age of 50 years and it is almost impossible for them to get a bank loan to construct a house on their site.”
In reply to all these complaints, BDA officials defend themselves saying since the survey is complete, it is just a matter of time before the allottees and landowners are given their due. But are these empty promises or will they transpire into something concrete? A question that both landowners and allottees ask, time and time again.