Many loopholes in Bidadi township

Many loopholes in Bidadi township
Thursday July 3 2008 09:34 IST

G Virat Singh

BANGALORE: It is a known fact that the solution to the problems created by the explosive growth of cities like Bangalore lies solely in setting up satellite towns around them.

And yet the much-talked of Bidadi Integrated Township Project (BITP), covering over 9,175 acres, may create more problems than solve them. The reason being that it appears to have been conceived with no housing demand survey or projections.

While the project was mooted by the Bangalore Metropolitan Regional Development Authority (BMRDA), the only bidder- the consortium led by Delhi-based Ms DLF - has been given the letter of intent for the project execution by the previous JD(S)-BJP coalition government.

There also appears to be an unholy haste in clearing it, as the collapsing coalition’s last Cabinet meeting on October 3, 2007, where only the JD(S) ministers were present (BJP abstained to protest the JD(S) refusal to transfer power), approved the contract.

This was unusual not only because a lame-duck government is not expected to take such important decisions, but also because the project, interestingly, is not backed by either a housing demand survey or any projections.

In the Request for Proposal (REP) document, the BMRDA itself has demonstrated the fact that it had not done any demand survey or projections with regard to the Bidadi project. This means a project mooted by a government body, to the scale of 9,175 acres in one lot, is conceived in isolation of its primate city.

The BMRDA has also not assessed the intensity of development for the 9175 acres and hence did not finalise the Floor Area Ratio (FAR). This was evident from the REP document in which the BMRDA stated that ‘the issue of FAR or built-up area will be clarified soon after the issuance of bid documents.’

This gives a free hand to the developer to develop or speculate on the land. Sources in the Department of Ecology, Environment and Forest, told this website’s newspaper that the BMRDA had not carried out even an Environmental Impact Assessment (EIA) of the Bidadi project.

Though the project does not have an element of infrastructure component, the previous government approved the project.

According to Dr Chakrapani, an ecologist, the BITP can be categorised as a mega project; as such it required environmental clearance from the Union Ministry of Environment and Forests (MoEF).

Efforts to contact the BMRDA authorities, including Deputy Commissioner M Doddappa went in vain. Doddappa’s secretary told this correspondent that it would be appropriate to contact the Metropolitan Commissioner.

Abhijit Das Gupta, who assumed charge as Commissioner just a fortnight ago, was also unavailable as he was ‘busy’ in meetings.

In the era of ill-conceived SEZs, Bidadi integrated township project seems to be one, due to its obvious real estate intentions.