Govt clamps down on land registration

Govt clamps down on land registration
Bans Transaction Without Conversion
The Times of India

Bangalore: A man who owns an eightacre land on Devanahalli Road is in a dilemma. He had fixed a price of Rs 35 lakh per acre and the buyer had paid Rs 10 lakh in advance. Now, the latter refuses to honour the agreement.

The reason? A Government Order (GO) issued on April 23 bans registration of flats and plots developed on agricultural land without land conversion from agricultural to non-agricultural purpose. Sources said the GO will definitely hit the revenues of seven city municipal councils and one town municipal council around Bangalore. One estimate is that 25% of Byatarayanapura CMC’s income will be lost — the loss could be Rs 2 crore to Rs 2.5 crore a year.

“After khata transfer, a person goes for plan sanction. Later, he seeks civic amenities. We will lose out on fees charged at each step,’’ the sources said.

Several CMC officials welcomed the GO. “Many layouts have come up in the green belt area, and this will help restrict that.’’ Already, prices are crashing. “Land prices per square foot have come down by Rs 200 to Rs 250. Everybody is feeling the pinch,’’ sources explained. They feared that construction activity — most real estate projects now come in the CMC areas — may come to a standstill.

But mutual understanding between seller and developer is also there. This is something the April 23 GO admits. It says “fabricated and bogus records’’ are used for property registration. Yelahanka CMC commissioner Mohammad Khalimulla said people used to get bogus khata certificates in his name. “Now, we have stopped issuing khata certificates totally,’’ he said, adding that his CMC has “no money at all’’.

Sources said the GO may be amended by exempting CMC and TMC areas from the order because of realtors’ pressure. But officials said the government must withstand that pressure. “Else, all of us will suffer in the years to come.’’

DRAWING THE LINE

CMCs can issue building licences, collect property taxes. They must also provide water, power, civic amenities. Layouts formed within 1,250 sqkm of Bangalore need to get BDA approval. The next area comes under BMRDA; areas beyond BMRDA fall in the town planning’s jurisdiction.

Babus flout land norms

Bangalore: The state government’s order banning registration of agricultural lands for non-agricultural purposes without conversion has opened the doors on questionable practices followed by government officials themselves.

Consider this: The owner of a six-acre plot of agricultural land fragmented a 55 ft x 40 ft piece. He applied to the Hassan deputy commissioner for conversion into residential land for forming a layout.

The DC approved it, with: “The layout and the plan should be approved by Hassan urban development authority or concerned town planning authority. Sites should not be distributed without approval. Adequate open spaces should be maintained as per rules.’’ Under the Karnataka Town and Country Planning Act, in a layout, 50 per cent land is residential; 10 per cent for civic amenity sites; 15 per cent for parks and 25 per cent for roads.

“How can approval be given for a layout on a 55 ft X 40 ft plot? Can open spaces be maintained in this tiny area? This approval is a blatant violation of the Karnataka Town and Country Planning Act,’’ said state town planning department director V.M. Hegde.

The April 23 order is meant to curb such practices and crack down on illegal layouts. Hegde said: “The government order (GO) strengthens implementation of plan proposals and goes with the masterplan being prepared for cities including Bangalore.’’ After repeal of Fragmentation Act of revenue department in the late 90s, there has been a spurt in acquiring agricultural lands for residential and commercial purposes without legal sanction. This also led to large violations of Green Belt area.

The onus is on the local area planning authorities concerned, municipal bodies or town planning authorities to streamline development in the green belt, while the revenue department plays a key role as the registering authority.

Green belt is a zone which permits agriculture, horticulture, dairy farming, milk chilling centres, highway amenities such as filling centres, weigh bridges and check posts. Under special circumstances, uses permitted are: places of worship, workshop, school, library and residential development not exceeding two floors, within area reserved for natural expansion of villages.

“But layouts are registered without following guidelines, as a result of which violations are rampant.

There is no space for infrastructure, properties are sold without approval from the sanctioning authority, but registrations are duly done by the sub-registrar,’’ town planning experts rued.

GO bans registration of the following

Sale, gift, exchange, mortgage, agreement to sell or lease a site with or without building in agricultural land, which is not converted from non-agricultural purposes, described as a gramathana site, for which no layout plan is approved and a release certificate is obtained from the competent authority.
The notification does not apply to documents relating to sale, gift, exchange, mortgage, agreement to sell of a site on revenue land for registration under Ashraya scheme, HUDCO, other government sponsored housing schemes.