Arkavathy changed rules of the game

Arkavathy changed rules of the game

Protests that followed land acquisition for the BDA layout made the state govt redraft policies

Bosky Khanna. Bangalore



On paper it is the trendsetter in many ways. The Arkavathy layout, which was cleared by the Supreme Court on Wednesday, was the first Bangalore Development Authority (BDA) layout after the property boom.
It had raised hopes of lakhs — and met with resistance from thousands. Arkavathy Layout was announced during the property boom. This made landowners sit up and take the BDA to court over compensation package.
The lessons learnt during the protests and the land acquisition process forced the government to rewrite its rule book on fixing compensation for land in five new layouts — K Shivarama Karanth, Nadaprabhu Kempegowda, D Devaraj Urs, Kyasambahalli Changalaraya Reddy and S Nijalingappa.
BDA commissioner H Siddhaiah, who termed the SC judgement as "great news", said that the Arkavathy layout compensation controversy led to the revision of compensation package for other layouts, and the introduction of the 30:40 scheme to keep those who lost land happy.
Post Arkavathy, the BDA decided to set up layouts under the public-private partnership model. Under the new scheme, 30 per cent of the developed land would go to land owners (whose land is acquired) in lieu of compensation. Farmers can also opt for monetary compensation, which will be based on the guidance value and sales statistics.
However, the compensation for those who lost land to the Arkavathy layout will be based on the old value and not on the new packages for the upcoming five layouts.
The BDA has promised to make Arkavathy a model layout with sites of all dimensions and proper balance between commercial and residential units. The layout will also be the first to have dual water pipeline systems and rainwater harvesting. The BDA has also assured wide roads, parks and water bodies and multi-storeyed housing complexes.
Siddhaiah said work on the layout would start immediately. k_bosky@dnaindia.net