Kempegowda Layout: Questions raised about missing land

Kempegowda Layout: Questions raised about missing land
Bangalore, March 8, DH News Service:

As the Nadaprabhu Kempegowda Layout remains embroiled in troubles of land acquisition, fresh allegations have been made by an organisation.


The Jayaprakash Narayan Vichara Vedike raised questions about the discrepancies in total land acquisition expanse at a press meet here on Monday.

According to the preliminary notification for the Nadaprabhu Kempegowda Layout, dated May 21, 2008, total land of 4,814 acres and 15 guntas were notified. But, on February 18, 2010, only 4,043 acre and 27 guntas were finally notified.

The Bangalore Development Authority (BDA) has justified the loss of only 627 acres of land by showing various stakeholders who have not parted with their land. However, there has been no response about the remaining 144 acres of land, which has mysteriously disappeared from the records.

Blame game

In their defence, BDA officials say that the “error” with regard to the missing 144 acres is due to the records maintained by the Revenue department.

“The records maintained in the Revenue department are faulty. In some places, a person owning three fourth of an acre has been recorded as having one acre. Hence the error,” said a BDA official.

The BDA has cited the lack of a joint survey as the primary reason for the discrepancies. “When we did the survey after the preliminary notification, we noted changes from when the survey was done by village accountants,” informed the official.

In total, the BDA has notified lands in 12 villages spread across Yeshwantpura and Kengeri hoblis.

The Kempegowda Layout has been muddled in controversies as residents in the notified land have been appealing to the BDA for exemption from the final notification.

The BDA has been under the scanner since the final notification for the layout was announced earlier last month. Their officials were also assaulted by the residents of villages that were notified for the formation of the layout.