BDA CDP hell-bent on ruining city

Transformation zones to change city’s face
Draft Masterplan 2015 Will Reflect The Changing Residential Face Of Bangalore
The Times of India

Bangalore: If you think Kumara Park, Charles Campell Road and Buddha Vihar Road are still relatively quiet places, think again. They are about to be ‘transformed.’

Some may consider these places the last oases of serenity in an increasingly concrete jungle, but the draft masterplan 2015 calls them ‘transformation zones.’ They are places which will reflect the changing face residential face of the city.

Under the draft plan, residents in these places as well as busier areas such as Seshadripuram, Malleswaram, Ramana Maharishi Road, Vyalikaval Road, Indiranagar 100 ft road, Kodihalli Main Road, HALWind Tunnel Road and National High 7-Hosur Road, no longer need run around government and Bangalore Development Authority (BDA) offices to get ‘change-oflanduse’ certification done. “If they fall under areas denoted as ‘transformation zone,’ they are automatically eligible for change in landuse,’’ sources said.

This means, people in these residential areas will be allowed to put up small shopping complexes, call centre offices, software companies and non-polluting activities. Earlier, call centres run out of homes were considered illegal because owners most often did not apply for change-in-landuse certification. BDA has even issued notices to such houseowners.

BDA officials reportedly went around the city to identify places for the ‘transformation zones.’ The idea is to “promote urban renewal in areas around, for instance, the city’s core area.’’ Ultimately, the planners hope, this will reduce the need for travel and lead to optimum use of available infrastructure.

Lots of interest: This concept has received mixed responses. Many people who visited the public display of the draft masterplan (at Yavanika) asked BDA officials what the ‘zones’ meant. When told that it meant they they would not have to go through onerous procedures for change-oflanduse, many were jubilant. Some Bangaloreans are not so pleased, however. “The quieter areas of the city will also as noisy as the rest of the urban jungle,’’ they said. Transformation zones are more or less similar to the ‘mixed landuse’ zones in the draft masterplan, except that the latter grades the kind of activities allowed.

Note: On the layout maps, ‘transformation zones’ are coloured blue and are titled ‘Bd.’

YOUR QUESTIONS, OUR ANSWERS

A.K. Reddy: “In the previous CDP, my land was in residential zone. In draft masterplan, it is under logistic zone. I have converted it from agricultural to residential, so have can it be under logistic zone?’’
A: He must fill up the objection forms and state his problems. www.bdabangalore.org.

Deekshit M: “I have a plot near Gottigere on Bannerghatta Road, can I build on it or sell it? What use is specified under the masterplan?’’
A: If he tells us survey no, we can tell him landuse. But if the landuse prescribed is agricultural, he cannot get it registered. He should come to Yavanika and check out the maps and landuse zones.

K. Srinivasa: “Are there any special development zones or schemes for Bommanahalli CMC, are there plans to include Hosapalya, Mangammanapalya under new development district?’’
A: What development district does he mean? There is a move to form a Greater Bangalore Authority, perhaps that is what he is talking about. He should come and check the districts in CDP display.

Q: Many citizens say they cannot get their flats registered and that some have paid betterment charges to relevant CMC but not obtained NOCs.
A: In such cases, they must check landuse first. In case of registrations, nothing can be done until government clarifies further on conversion of land.

Note: All questions answered by BDA Commissioner M.N. Vidyashankar. Only queries related to the draft masterplan will
henceforth be answered.