Masterplan 2015 under judicial scrutiny

Masterplan 2015 under judicial scrutiny
All Sanction Plans In CDP’s Green Belt Area Will Be Subject To The Court’s Final Decision
TIMES NEWS NETWORK

Bangalore: The high court on Wednesday said all sanction plans given in areas notified as green belt in the Comprehensive Development Plan (CDP), 1995, will be subject to the court’s final decision vis-a-vis the revised masterplan 2015.
A division Bench headed by chief justice P D Dinakaran directed the BDA to reply to claims made in PIL challenging the revised masterplan. Counsel for the petitioner, Bangalore-based Citizens Action Forum (CAF), claimed that masterplan 2015, notified by the BDA on June 25, 2007, is without jurisdiction.
“There has been steep reduction in the green belt area from 56 per cent in the 1995 plan to 35 per cent in the present one. In 1995, it was 714 sq km and now it has shrunk by 300 sq km. They have done away with zonal planning by permitting mixed use of land. The increase in floor area ratio (FAR) will increase the density of population and virtually choke the city. This exercise has been done ignoring suggestions of BMRDA as well as BWSSB,” the counsel said.
“Section 14-A of the Town and Country Planning Act, wherein the parties are required to seek government’s nod for change of land use, has been reduced to redundant provision with the concept of mixed zones,” he told the court. Opposing any interim order of stay, counsel for BDA said it would create a vacuum.
Metro Rail: Centre told to reply
A division Bench has directed the Centre to file its reply on PIL challenging alignment of the Metro Rail project on CMH Road. The CMH Road Shopowners and Residents Association had filed the petition. The next hearing is fixed for Monday.