BDA pulls out all stops for new layout site

Bengaluru: Despite opposition, the BDA seems keen on acquiring the 2,000-acre land beyond Yelahanka and Whitefield for its new residential layout.

Towards this objective, the Bengaluru Development Authority (BDA) has asked the Bangalore Electricity Supply Corporation Limited (Bescom) not to provide power connections to buildings coming up on revenue sites.

In a letter dated February 20, BDA Commissioner N Jayaram conveyed to the Bescom Managing Director that his agency wants to extend the Dr K Shivaram Karanth Layout to 36 villages in the peripheries of northern and eastern Bengaluru.

"During the survey, it has been observed that new construction activity is taking place on the properties that have been identified for acquisition. This will cause a hurdle to our new project. Hence, do not provide civic amenities to properties that are coming up without the approval of the planning authority or on sites that are not approved by the revenue department,” a rough translation of the letter, drafted in Kannada, read.

It is also learnt that the BDA, the planning authority, has stopped issuing the sanctioned plan or approval for new construction activities, be it residential or commercial, in the 36 villages.

Many believe the BDA’s letter is illegal and against constitutional rights. The letter comes when the government is yet to notify the acquisition of 2,000 acres. “The BDA is snatching the rights of property owners by denying civic amenities to 36 villagers," Mavalipura Srinivas, a resident of the area and a social activist, said.

Srinivas has also filed a complaint with Chief Minister Siddaramaiah, seeking his intervention to withdraw the proposed acquisition of more villages when the BDA is unable to compensate farmers who had already parted with their land for the Karanth Layout.

He also said the BDA did not take the government's permission before initiating the process to notify the land for acquisition. "A lot of villages marked for the new layout fall under the green zone and also come within the Thippagondanahalli reservoir from where water is supplied to the city,” Srinivas said.

He said the BDA has no authority to ask other agencies to stop providing civic amenities.

In a news item dated March 13, DH had mentioned the BDA’s plan to form a new 2,000-acre layout beyond Whitefield and Yelahanka.

Villages planned for acquisition include Bellahalli, Kannur, Bidarahalli, Amani Doddakere, Kannamangala, Kadugodi, and Bylakere in the east as well as Soladevanahalli, Chikkabanavara, Kempapura, Avalahalli, Mavallipura, and JB Kaval, Mylappanahalli in the north.

The BDA has formed three teams with 22 surveyors to assess the ground in the villages to understand the extent of the land that could be acquired.