Give up land with a smile

Give up land with a smile
The Times of India

BANGALORE: Here is a win-win situation for the government and the land owner. Land acquisition for road-widening works need no longer be cumbersome.

In a step hailed as revolutionary in town planning, the Karnataka government has approved the successful land acquisition model, transferable development rights (TDR).

How does this benefit you? First, land acquisition rules have been made simpler: if the owner gives up his land voluntarily, he will no longer get compensation from the government. Instead, he will be given an additional floor area ratio (FAR) — which is 1.5 times of the plot. The owner can use the FAR either to extend his building or to trade it for a price. In short, he benefits both ways.

A certificate will be issued to the owner for additional FAR, which will be a legal document for trading. The FAR can be traded based on the market value of the plot in that area within the corporation’s jurisdiction, sources said.

The TDR scheme, based on the Hyderabad model for road-widening work, was approved by CM Dharam Singh on Jan. 11.

"TDR is a boon to civic bodies which cannot afford huge compensation. In stray cases where the owner doesn’t want to give up his property, we'll have to acquire it using the land acquisition process," sources said.

There's a rider, though. Basic rules of building bye-laws under the Karnataka Municipal Corporation Act will not be relaxed with regard to FAR. As per rules, FAR is fixed in tandem with plot dimension and the road, and it varies from area to area.

"If traded, FAR cannot be used on plots where rules do no permit constructing additional floors. Strict guidelines will be issued to the city corporations about its implementation," sources warned.

The scheme is a blessing for BCC: its two ambitious road-widening projects have been on paper for nearly five years for want of land and funds to pay compensation.

The first: Integrated development of 21 traffic corridors that carry heavy traffic to the city hub. The project included road-widening and improvement of junctions. Existing carriageways were proposed to be widened to three-, four- or six-lane depending on traffic movement. The second project was to widen 49 roads.