No twist in the plot: BDA site aspirants in for a long wait

Fate of three new layouts hangs in balance; Acquisition process yet to begin

With the fate of Shivaram Karanth and Kempe Gowda layouts themselves being uncertain in the light of the Arkavathy layout fiasco, the fate of three other proposed layouts, D Devaraj Urs Layout, S Nijalingappa Layout and K C Reddy Layout is anybody’s guess.

Bengalureans will have to wait endlessly for sites from these three layouts as not even preliminary work has begun on their formation.

The situation is serious considering that BDA has not made a single land acquisition in the City after 2008 - nearly for seven years now. Not a site has been formed in these years as even final notification has not been issued in the case of the other two layouts. Add to it, a study is being conducted on about the feasibility of the three new layouts proposed to be formed.

K Srinivas, Deputy Comissioner, Land Acquisition, BDA, told Deccan Herald, “The BDA has not made an acquisition since 2008. This is because the land prices are too high and there are several issues pertaining to the Kempe Gowda and Shivaram Karanth layouts which have to be sorted out. The government has to be consulted at various levels.”

In November 2014, the High Court declared BDA’s move in 2008 to acquire land for the formation of Dr Shivaram Karanth Layout, as “lapsed” as it was not implemented for several years. A preliminary notification had been issued on December 30, 2008 for acquisition of 3,546 acres of land situated between Doddaballapur and Hesaraghatta roads to form 18,975 sites. But the court declared that the acquisition process has lapsed as the BDA neither declared the scheme for acquisition nor issued final notification for acquisition even after half a decade. The argument forwarded was that acquisition lapsed due to non-implementation of the plan within a “reasonable” time-frame.

While the final notification for the two layouts is pending, the preliminary notification on the three other layouts has not begun owing to an ongoing study by a private agency on their feasibility.

The deputy commissioner pointed out: “A study by a private consultancy is underway whether these three layouts (Devaraj Urs Layout, S Nijalingappa Layout and K C Reddy Layout) are feasible or not. We expect them to conclude their study in about three to four months and submit a report on the same to the BDA. The BDA will then forward  the report to the State government and depending on the recommendation of the government, appropriate decision will be taken. Any work to begin on these layouts will take us not less than four months, that too depending on the conclusions on the viability of these layouts.”

The plan of the government is to offer 18,975 sites in the Shivaram Karanth Layout to be developed between Doddaballapur and Hesaraghatta roads and around 60,000 sites in the Kempe Gowda Layout between Magadi Road and Mysore Road. The government is taking time to approve the three new layouts because the areas to be acquired supposedly overlap with integrated townships and special economic zones planned by other government agencies.