Grab a site in prime area for a song

Grab a site in prime area for a song
Realtors, Netas Usurp Gomala Land
By S Kushala
The Times of India

Bangalore: Yes, a 30x40ft plot sells for just Rs 1.75 lakh in a prime locality off Outer Ring Road at Devarabeesanahalli in Bellandur Gram Panchayat. You buy the property sans documents and forget the registration rigmarole. Construct a house without a building plan sanction and be assured that nobody comes calling to check documents.

The 67-acre gomala land in Devarabeesanahalli village (survey numbers 15 and 16) is up for grabs. Thanks to realtors and politicians, the government land is sold like hotcakes. Over 300 houses have come up without any permission. The revised guidance value of the area is Rs 35 lakh an acre against the market rate of Rs 2 crore.

Government marks some land as gomala for cattle grazing. Bellandur Gram Panchayat’s efforts to stop encroachment of such a land have gone in vain.

“I bought a 30x40ft site for Rs 1.5 lakh six months ago through a local politician. I’ve constructed a two-bedroom house but there are no documents for my property. I’m not bothered as nobody has troubled us till now,’’ said a buyer.

The residents do know their properties are illegal. “I’ve borrowed Rs 1.25 lakh in loan at a monthly interest of 3%. The land owner has assured us that government will regularise our properties one day,’’ another resident said. This correspondent managed to strike a deal for 30x40ft site for Rs 1.75 lakh!

The realtor stressed: “I’ll get the site without papers on humanitarian ground as the sites are earmarked for people below poverty line. I’m giving this site to you only because you are poor. You construct a house, don’t bother about the building plan. We’ve provided water and power connection.’’
When contacted, Bangalore Urban deputy commissioner M A Sadiq told The Times of India that he’ll immediately conduct an inspection of the area.

7,000 acres of land grabbed

The Bellandur episode is not an isolated one. The government has identified nearly 7,000 acres of its land which has been encroached upon, of which 3,000 acres in Bangalore Urban district alone. Over the past three years, about three lakh acres of land have been converted in and around Bangalore. The revenue department has estimated that the value of the encroached land varies between Rs 50,000 and Rs 4 crore an acre.