CA sites: BDA chants damage control mantra

CA sites: BDA chants damage control mantra
Deccan Herald

As the City grapples with inadequate public utilities and other spin-offs from the realty boom, Bangalore Development Authority is looking at damage control.


As the City grapples with inadequate public utilities and other spin-offs from the realty boom, Bangalore Development Authority is looking at damage control.

The BDA is set to bring to book those who have diverted Civic Amenity sites to activities violating the original purpose of the allotment.

“We are in the process of identifying the violators. The drive will also cover sites allotted by the erstwhile City Improvement Trust Board,” according to BDA Commissioner M K Shankaralinge Gowda.


BDA has kicked off weekly inspections to ascertain that allottees are using CA sites in accordance with the allotment stipulations. “Over the years, sites that had been allotted to run schools could have been used to run colleges, which is not permissible. Similarly, sites allotted for medical colleges can’t house hospitals. Nobody thought of these possibilities when CA sites were allotted three or four decades ago,” Mr Gowda said.

The norms under which civic amenity is defined may appear beyond public comprehension.

According to the BDA Commissioner, CA sites are part of BDA’s attempts to enhance “social infrastructure”. “A community hall can host marriages, because marriages are social events. Further, these halls can’t survive entirely on music concerts. Similarly, organisations can run canteens for their members as long as they are not charging for the services,” he said.

Builders to feel heat

BDA had recently blacklisted certain builders for not allocating the prescribed chunk of land for CA sites within residential layouts.

The new BDA drive will also track private builders who construct houses/apartments on sites meant for civic amenities.

However, the draft Master Plan 2015 — the revised Comprehensive Development Plan for the City — itself has cut down the CA site component in residential layouts from 15 per cent to 10 per cent.

Further, builders of smaller layouts can now completely do away with CA sites meant for public utilities. Mr Gowda dismissed suggestions of double standards.

“The government had decided to increase the housing component in residential layouts, from 50 per cent to 55 per cent. We had to compromise on CA sites, because we couldn’t on roads or parks,” he said.

FAST FACTS

BDA defines CA sites as those not used for commercial purposes. CA sites cannot be converted following Change in Land Use norms. Police stations, libraries, fuel stations, schools, hospitals, banks and community centres fall within the CA site bracket. There are around 1,300 BDA-allotted CA sites in Bangalore, of which around 200 are under illegal occupation, according to BDA.