English daily published in Bengaluru & Doha
Dream home: Caught in a civic nightmare
By Y Maheswara Reddy | NT
With Bangalore Development Authority (BDA) shifting focus on Dr Shivaram Karanth Layout, the site allottees at Nadaprabhu Kempegowda Layout are worried a lot. Many of them, residing at rented houses, want to construct their homes, but do not know when they will be able to realize the dream of owning a house at the layout.
“I can’t even locate my site at the Nadaprabhu Kempegowda Layout. The area is full of weeds and the BDA engineers have to take measures to provide basic infrastructure at the layout. I bought a site at the layout in 2019, but could not construct a house due to lack of basic infrastructure,” said a site owner on a condition of anonymity.
The BDA began the process to acquire land for the development of Nadaprabhu Kempegowda Layout in 2011 and allotted sites to the buyers in two phases – December 2016 and March 2018. The BDA allotted around 10,000 sites to the buyers, but failed to meet the deadline for completing the infrastructure works at the layout.
It may be recalled Chief Minister Basavaraj Bommai, while replying during the Question Hour in Assembly recently, said that no building has been constructed at Nadaprabhu Kempegowda Layout and the measures would be taken to complete ongoing developmental works as early as possible. However, the ongoing works, especially construction of drains and bridges, is yet to commence. At present the layout is prone to waterlogging.
“I bought the site at the layout four years ago. I want to construct a house for myself but there is no infrastructure. I want the BDA engineers to expedite completion of incomplete works for the benefit of buyers who want to construct buildings,” said Sanjeev H, one of the site owners at Nadaprabhu Kempegowda Layout.
Some of the buyers regret purchasing sites at Nadaprabhu Kempegowda Layout as there is no infrastructure. “The BDA has allotted me a site in 2018, but it was prone to waterlogging. Later, the BDA has allotted an alternative site in 2020 but I am not able to locate the site till date. It would have been the best option to buy a site at a private layout. I am repenting for having trusted the BDA and preferring to buy a site at Nadaprabhu Kempegowda Layout,’’ said Anuradha. According to Nadaprabhu Kempegowda Layout Open Forum spokesperson Surya Kiran, the developmental works have come to a grinding halt and the roads have become slushy. “I want the BDA to complete all the pending works as early as possible,” said Surya Kiran, adding that BDA is yet to fix the problems of land acquisition.
Meanwhile, BDA Engineer Member H.R. Shantharajanna said the construction of more than 30 bridges and drains would begin shortly. “The proposal for constructing the bridges and drains will be discussed during the BDA Board meeting,” said Shantharajanna.
Sanjeev H, A site owner
Bangalore Development Authority (BDA) is prioritizing Dr Sivaram Karant Layout formation in the name of Supreme Court verdict, and has left Nadaprabhu Kempegowda Layout (NPKL) in cold storage.
Work in NPKL is at standstill, even roads end abruptly. I purchased a 30/40 site and got an allotment in 2018. I was very happy thinking RERA will safeguard us in any circumstances and BDA was doing a new project after a gap of 13 years.
BDA had announced that it will be its last residential layout project. We thought BDA might do a good job as it was its last layout project.
The site value collected from NKPL allottes in 2018 was higher than market and guidance value prevailing in that period.
Four years have gone by, but infrastructure work has not seen much progress in any part of layout. Many of the buyers took loans with construction clauses, and the period has crossed. Now our loans have been converted to commercial loans, for failing to construct as per our agreement with the bank.
There is no proper infrastructure in
