The state government, which is bringing in amendments to Section 14 (A) of the KTCP Act, will make the change of land use a money spinner for the BJP in the election year. The move will have a far reaching impact on the urban landscape and environment in Bengaluru, Mysore, Hubli-Dharwad and Mangalore as the master plan, which is the blueprint for development of the city, will be overridden by this relaxation. The crucial development, which is retrograde in nature, comes in after Rajiv Chawla took over as the commissioner of BMRDA.
“In the last four years, thousands of acres of prime land around Devanahalli, Hosur Road and substantially in Mysore had been given a go ahead for change of land use in violation of Section 14(A) of KTCP Act. Soon After Chawla took over, he issued circulars to the Urban Development Department, Bangalore International Airport Area Planning Authority (BIAPPA) and other development authorities that no change of land use could be accorded under Section 14(A) as there were no such provisions under the Act except for the extraneous reasons like for bridges, roads and other public utilities. Following this, files related to change of land use started piling up in Chawla's office leading to a skirmish between the bureaucracy and the politicians," said sources in the secretariat.
Following these developments, Mr Chawla was supposed to get marching orders from the BMRDA, said sources adding that the bureaucracy, finally, played into the hands of politicians and this ultimately led to the decision of bringing in new guidelines which will act as annexures to the Section 14(A). The new guidelines will have overriding powers over the Master Plan and also legalise change of land use without any review or public scrutiny.
Sources said that the IAS lobby, fearing backlash from politicians and to also preempt a situation where they will held accountable in the courts, constituted a committee under the chairmanship of Mr SS Topagi, in charge director of Department of Town Planning, to come out with a set of fresh guidelines to enable change of land use. “This move is illegal in nature and is nothing but legitimising looting public money and compromising on environment, ecology and balanced development of a city. It seems like the real estate lobby is all set to hit a jackpot as they pick up agriculture land at throwaway price and convert them to industrial/ commercial use," sources in the secretariat said.