Akrama-Sakrama offer gets cold response in City

The much-delayed regularisation of unauthorised constructions and land development, popularly known as Akrama-Sakrama, has received a cold response in Bengaluru.

The Bruhat Bengaluru Mahanagara Palike (BBMP) has in the past one year received only 1,598 applications seeking regularisation of properties under the scheme. And people appear to be not very eager to submit applications though the deadline to do so will end on March 22 – the government had given one year time for people to submit the applications from March 23, 2015.

The much-discussed scheme envisages one-time regularisation of building deviation (up to 50 per cent in case of residential and up to 25 per cent in case of commercial) and illegal land development in the jurisdiction of all urban local bodies, including the BBMP, in the State. As per an estimate by the BBMP, there are more than two lakh unauthorised residential plots (also called ‘B’ khata plots) in its jurisdiction and over five lakh buildings have been constructed violating the building bye-laws.

According to the BBMP officials, the Karnataka High Court direction to the government not to process the applications is one of the reasons for the poor response.  A division bench of the court gave this order in March last year while hearing a petition by Citizens Forum for Mangalore Development for quashing the Akrama-Sakrama rules.

Filling in applications under the scheme is a cumbersome process. It is difficult to fill in the application without the help of an architect in case of byelaw violations. For, one has to calculate the quantum of setback violations, which depends on a number of factors such as plot area, built-up area, number of floors, floor area ratio and zoning regulations.

In case of ‘B’ khata properties, assistance of an advocate in property matter is necessary. As the scheme has hit the legal hurdle, people are reluctant to spend money on submitting applications, the officials said.

Moreover, the officials said, the maximum limit fixed for the regularisation of unauthorised portions of construction is unrealistic. A majority of the unauthorised residential constructions in Bengaluru City have more than 50 per cent deviations. So, owners of such properties will not be eligible for regularisation under the scheme. It is also an important reason for the poor response to the scheme, the officials added.

BBMP Additional Director, Town Planning, L Shashikumar wondered why people are not eager to make use of the scheme. The court has not stayed the scheme. And it has no objection to receiving applications. The High Court has only asked the government not to process them.

“People might come forward to submit applications when all legal issues get cleared. But so far, the government has not issued any direction on extending the deadline for submitting the applications,” he said.