BDAs hi-rises will lay low your independence dreams

BDAs hi-rises will lay low your independence dreams
By Satish Shile, DH News Service, Bangalore:
Now it is a (distant?) dream to get an independent house through the public housing system in the City, what with Bangalore Development Authoritys Master Plan 2015 proposing vertical growth of the housing sector in the capital.

From now on, one- or two-room houses will be allotted only in ground + 3 or + 4 storied structures without elevator facility. This applies to higher-category houses as well but, for such houses, one has to opt for high-rise structures.
BDA proposes to go skywards as it finds it necessary to address the increasing housing demand in the City. The master plan (MP) points out that total residential area (built and occupied) in Bangalore has gone up by 44 sq km between 1990 and 2003.
While residential area rose by 2.89 per cent annually, population grew by 3.28 per cent. The MP proposes to make up this deficit by smaller size houses.
Housing units for employed but poor families would be in the form of two-room units with 30 to 50 sq-mtr area. Private agencies would be involved in constructing such units by offering incentives in the form of higher FAR (floor area ratio) as well as commercial use of part of the land.
Realty check
However, it would be mandatory for developers to allot 15% of FAR or 35% of dwelling units, whichever is higher, for economically weaker sections and the lower-income category.
The plan suggests construction of houses in government land and rent them out for government and private sector employees.
This would also serve as a tool for raising housing stock in the City and regulating real estate market.
The master plan suggests that rental housing scheme may be taken up through the Karnataka Housing Board and the Rajiv Gandhi Rural Housing Corporation Ltd.
BDA and BBMP should make necessary land available for the scheme’s implementation. Under this scheme, high-rise structures will be built with minimum of ground plus three storeys. Rent would be fixed on the basis of the house/flat type offered.
The MP proposes slum development by providing basic amenities.
However, relocation of slums would be considered only in cases where “conditions pose danger to the dwellers’ health” or if the slum land is required for a public purpose.
To provide shelter for the thousands who come to Bangalore from far-off places and take shelter on pavements, a majority of them women and children, the MP suggests night shelters in railway/bus terminals, retail markets and hospitals.
It stresses on such shelters on hospital premises, which would benefit relatives of poor patients.

FOCUS ON CITY’S GROWTH
The State government recently notified the Bangalore Development Authority’s master plan for the next 10 years’ growth of Bangalore metropolitan area. Bangaloreans are wondering about changes being made with regard to land use, setback rules, opening up of green belt area, new housing projects and others. In this backdrop, Deccan Herald runs a series of reports on various aspects of the plan.

DETAILS
37% houses are 1-room
64.5% of LIG live in 2-room houses
53% of MIG live in 2-room houses
37% of houses are one-room
(*As per 2001 records; MIG= medium income group; LIG= low-income)