Is that house you're buying on the TDR map?

Is that house you're buying on the TDR map?

Gullible property buyers falling prey to BBMP's road-widening plan

Vaishalli Chandra. Bangalore

Fifty-four-year-old M Prasad took a Rs70-lakh loan from a private financier to buy a two-storey 20x20 ft house on Thimmaiah Road. The trader, who had spent an additional Rs4 lakh on interior decoration for the house, had bought thoran (mango leaves) and a shubha-labh sign for his new house, where he was planning to shift next week.
But now that's not going to happen. Prasad got the shock of his life when he was told that his house came under BBMP's road-widening plan, which meant it had to go.
The previous owners didn't tell him anything. "I didn't know anything about this TDR thing," said Prasad. "I have already made so much investment on this house. Will they compensate me?"
Prasad's not the only case. There are many like him who have bought properties on the TDR map and now are stuck with it. Many red-marked property owners are looking for naive buyers like Prasad, and many property buyers are unaware about BBMP's road widening plan on 221 roads. "Property buyers should first go to the ward office or to the BBMP head office to check if the road where the property they are planning to buy is notified for widening under any scheme; and also to what extent of the area falls under the zone of road widening," said high court advocate Sunil Dutt Yadav. "Since there is no restriction on sale of such properties as the BBMP has not prohibited such sale, the onus is on the buyers," said Yadav.