MLA: No allotment yet, then why second phase of Karanth Layout?

Bengaluru: Rajajinagar MLA S Suresh Kumar questioned the state government's move to form the second phase of the Dr K Shivaram Karanth Layout when it is yet to allot about 30,000 sites that have already been developed.

He also urged the government to drop the expansion, stating that many allottees are unable to build houses in the existing layouts owing to the lack of basic facilities.

"The BDA is yet to compensate all the farmers who lost their land when the authority formed the Shivaram Karanth, Anjanapura, Sir M Visvesvaraya, Kempegowda, and Arkavathi layouts. When such is the track record of the BDA, why is the government taking up an expansion that is of no use to the landowners or the allottees?” the MLA questioned, in a letter to Deputy Chief Minister DK Shivakumar.

Kumar also cautioned that such an expansion would not only harm tree cover, but also pose a risk to food security. “This will also lead to air pollution,” he warned.