Taxing times ahead for Greater Bangalorean

Taxing times ahead for Greater Bangalorean
Deccan HErald

Two mega plans which have been much talked about through out the year were — Master Plan 2015 (Comprehensive Development Plan) and Greater Bangalore. Both promise to give a new dimension to the growth of the City. But how many Bangaloreans have understood these two plans? Or how many Bangaloreans have made efforts to understand the plans?

Bangalore Development Authority (BDA) is soon going to give final touches to the Master Plan and forward it to the government. Greater Bangalore has moved from plan to action stage. With a view to understanding the concept of Greater Bangalore, Deccan Herald had invited a host of BMP officials besides Bangalore urban district in-charge minister R Ashok to its office recently.

In the two-hour interaction three things were clear — the officials are serious about expanding the boundary of Bangalore by three times. However, they may not get able efficient hands and funds to execute their plans. But they definitely have a blue-print to raise the revenue or in other words to make the people in the seven CMCs, one TMC and 111 villages pay more to the State exchequer. After all, the citizens have to shell out more for getting basic needs like roads, drainage, water and lighting.

The officers argued that they are trying to tap untapped revenue in new areas. But they had no answer to the question — why during all these years the CMCs and TMC have been denied even the basic infrastructure facility. The officers also did not make it clear whether there would be stringent norms to curb illegal constructions, building bye-law violations and pavement encroachments.

There was also no indication as to whether various service providers would have a consolidated plan to make Bangalore a greater in real terms.

Vijesh Kamath

Land’s still shining bright

Land is gold, goes the wise old-timer’s take. And in the Bangalore scheme of things, the shine is intact. This, despite infrastructure and connectivity remaining casualties in the City and its fringes. It’s perhaps appropriate that the State Government’s ban on registration of revenue sites came at the fag end of a year marked by land-grabbing allegations, BDA demolition drives and big bidding at government auctions, on land in distant villages. The bottomline, well, is: Land is gold.

After tracking land-related developments and issues in Bangalore through the year, Deccan Herald found that indicators to Bangalore’s land prices continue to be its infrastructure projects. The upcoming international airport at Devanahalli – a good 35 km off the City – has already got prices up north, the boom starting even before Hebbal. The latest heard is a Rs 7 crore-per-acre projection for land near the airport. What the figure would look like when the airport opens in 2008, is anybody’s guess.

The ever-in-the-news Bangalore Mysore Infrastructure Corridor has redefined property prices all around its scope. And according to real estate watchers, the buzzword now is Metro. And so, we have even rookie realty agents covering up the property’s pitfalls by dropping names that matter: “But when Metro comes, the area will be developed, sir!” Metro, incidentally, will be a good 10 km off.

Big bidder turnouts: The aspirations to own land in Bangalore – widely regarded as a safe investment bet – continue to soar if turnouts at BDA and Revenue Department auctions are any indication. Squatters, fly-by-night realtors, underdeveloped layouts, booming prices and confused buyers are still dotting Bangalore’s realty scape. As 2007 dawns, the immediate public interest will be on whether the government move to crack down on land-grabbers and conniving officials would breathe sense into a market that essentially runs on speculations and hearsay. Finally.