BENGALURU
Following the government’s decision to allot 50 percent of developed land in the proposed Bidadi integrated township to farmers, those who parted with their land in north Bengaluru are also demanding equal share in the upcoming Shivaram Karanth Layout. Currently, they are eligible for 40 percent of the area under 60:40 ratio.
Representatives of farmers from 17 villages in the vicinity of Shivaram Karanth Layout met BDA Commissioner P Manivannan to present their demands. They objected to non-allotment of commercial sites, corner sites and sites along 100-ft, 80-ft and 60-ft roads to the farmers. Around 5,000 properties that were present before development of the layout have been charged varying amounts as betterment charges. “The rates vary between Rs 42 and Rs 1,028 per square feet, with each village having a different amount. However, the allotment rate is uniform across the entire area, M Ramesh, a farmer from Ramagondanahalli, told. Ramesh’s family parted with 39 guntas, of which he owned 10 guntas, for the layout, except for his house, which was spared. The betterment charge in one village is Rs 465 per sqft, while it is as low as Rs 43 in the very next village. This is unscientific, he said.
Vasanth Kumar from Veerasagara said BDA must treat this as a special case with regard to betterment charges. Even as it is part of BDA’s policy, this particular project is an exception as it has taken close to two decades. The charges must be reasonable, he said. Betterment charges are calculated from guidance value before and after completion of layout development. In some villages, the owner of a 30×40 plot will have to pay almost a lakh. While in others, the amount can go up to Rs 10 lakh, he added. The BDA Commissioner said issues related to Shivaram Karanth Layout are being monitored closely by the high court and that its compensation issues were closed long ago. Projects executed at different points of time can’t be compared. Bidadi integrated township is a new project. The earlier projects did not even have any land component as compensation, he said.