Bill on unauthorised constructions may hit TDR

Bill on unauthorised constructions may hit TDR

The Hindu

It may clash with BMP plans to widen roads using TDR

# Government has permitted BMP to grant TDR to property owners
# Only 20 persons have opted for the scheme

BANGALORE: The State Government's new Bill to regularise unauthorised constructions is likely to dilute the Bangalore Mahanagara Palike's (BMP) existing scheme of compensating owners whose land is acquired for road widening.

The provisions of the Karnataka Regularisation of Unauthorised Constructions Bill is expected to clash with the civic body's plans of widening roads using Transferable Development Rights (TDR).

The State Government had permitted the BMP, through a notification on February 3, 2005, to grant TDR to property owners and leaseholders for road widening. The rights envisage permitting an additional Floor Area Ratio (FAR) to owners whose lands are acquired for road widening.

The BMP can acquire the lands without paying monetary compensation and the owners have the option to either extend construction or sell the rights to a prospective builder. While BMP officials are confident that TDR will not come in the way of the provisions of the new Bill, sources in the BMP Council wonder whether the concept of TDR would lose importance after the Bill comes into force.

The Bill that seeks to regularise building deviations up to 50 per cent is now with Governor T.N. Chaturvedi for his approval.

Poor response

Following the poor response from property owners to the TDR scheme, the BMP decided to set up a TDR clinic, through which the civic body would buy the rights from people and sell it to builders or individuals who want to get the deviated portions of their buildings regularised. From the time the TDR scheme was introduced, cit. To make it more attractive, the BMP recently modified it by relaxing certain regulations. However, this may not have much effect in the wake of the new Bill, sources said.

If a person, according to the new Bill, has the option of paying a prescribed sum and getting the deviated portion of his building regularised, why will he opt for TDR, the sources pointed out.

However, BMP officials are ready with an explanation for this.

"Once the Bill is approved by the Governor, a cut-off date will be fixed so that deviations of buildings that have completed construction before that date can be regularised by paying the prescribed fee. The Bill will not dilute the purpose of TDR because buildings with deviations constructed after the cut-off date will have to opt for TDR," a top BMP official told The Hindu.