TDR: Apartments to hit jackpot with Corporation’s offer

TDR: Apartments to hit jackpot with Corporation’s offer
New Indian Express

BANGALORE: The Bangalore City Corporation’s (BCC) efforts to buy space in places that were identified to be used to widen roads using transferable development right (TDR) certificates, may have hit a roadblock.

But there is a section of property owners who will stand to gain. Apartment owners see a jackpot in the offer.

TDR involves issuing of development rights to the property owner instead of monetary compensation. Thus, the Apartment Owners Association of Bangalore has seen an opportunity to increase the number of flats over and above the sanctioned numbers, by buying the Development Rights Certificate (DRC) from those who surrender their property for road widening projects.

Despite stiff resistance from traders on Avenue Road and Chickpet, BCC has received a written commitment from the association that it is ready to buy the floor area rights of two lakh square feet, which was issued by the civic body.

BCC commissioner K Jothiramalingam informed this website’s newspaper that apart from the Association of Apartment Owners, the upmarket commercial complex on Airport Road, Diamond District have also showed interest in buying floor area rights, amounting to one lakh square feet.

However, BCC is not in a tearing hurry to implement widening all of its 45 roads in one go. “We will first take up Hosur Road and Bellary Road and later take up roads that have less resistance to the work,” Jothiramalingam said.

He said that the traders on Avenue Road and Chickpet need not be anxious. The civic body would address the public fear of temples and masjids coming under BCC bulldozer. Jothiramalingam said: “While implementing the project, we will take the residents’ opinion and we will not force road widening on them if they don’t want it.”

He brushed aside the suggestion of some traders that the old central prison complex that is proposed for Freedom Park could be converted into a commercial complex to accommodate displaced traders. “We have even selected contractor for the Freedom Park project and is pending government approval. Moreover BCC has no jurisdiction on this matter,” Jothiramalingam said.