Ban on registration of revenue sites may be revoked

Ban on registration of revenue sites may be revoked

The Hindu

The Government decision had resulted in a loss of Rs. 600 crores to the State exchequer

# Government claims no ban on property registration in BMP limits
# Nearly 25 p.c. of the layouts formed on revenue land in Bangalore had violated guidelines
# Land auction in Bangalore Urban fetches Government Rs. 80.87 crores
# Land value shoots up in Mysore

BANGALORE: The Government is contemplating revoking the ban on registration of revenue sites in Bangalore and other parts of the State.

Deputy Chief Minister M.P. Prakash, who also holds the Revenue portfolio, told presspersons here on Monday that there was widespread disquiet against the ban on registration of revenue sites, particularly in Bangalore. The ban had caused a loss of Rs. 600 crores to the State exchequer. The Government had banned registration of sites on revenue lands a few months ago.

To a question, he clarified that there was no ban on registration of properties in the Bangalore Mahanagara Palike (BMP) limits.

However, enquiries with the office of the Bangalore Urban District Registrar office revealed that there was a ban on registration of properties in the BMP limits. The ban came into existence in the BMP limits from April 23, 2005, sources said.

Mr. Prakash, who held a meeting with officials of the Finance, Urban Development and Revenue departments, said the Urban Development Department had prepared a note on the issue and it would be placed at the next Cabinet meeting. The Cabinet would take a decision to revoke the ban, he said.

Nearly 17 to 25 per cent of the layouts formed on revenue lands in Bangalore had violated the guidelines of the Urban Development Department. The layouts were formed without providing sufficient space for roads, drainage and other basic amenities, he said.

Fine collection

The Revenue Department would collect fine from the owners of unregistered sites and register their property. It would be applicable to those who were unable to register their sites before April 2005. Since there were varied views on the different slabs of fines, the Cabinet would take the final decision, Mr. Prakash said.

On guidance values, he said they were revised upwards by 30 per cent to 40 per cent last year. This year too it would be done likewise and Mr. Prakash claimed that it should help in the orderly development of layouts as also the city.

Circular

The price of land had shot up in Mysore also. To check illegal formation of layouts and conversion of agricultural lands into non-agricultural, the department had issued a circular stating that developers and individuals had to obtain permission from five departments against twelve earlier to register the sites.

Mr. Prakash said the Revenue Department got Rs. 80.87 crores by auctioning 86.37 acres of land in Bangalore Urban district. An advertisement was issued again to sell another 50 acres in the district. The department was also planning an amendment to reduce days for confirmation of sale from 90 days to 30.