Deccan Chronicle 30.01.2014
BBMP reduces betterment fee
mind, the BBMP on Wednesday reduced the betterment fee, which was
approved by palike members on Tuesday, benefiting thousands of people.
Scores of corporators, including former Mayor S.K. Nataraj, demanded a cut in the betterment fee.
The
council passed a resolution reducing the fee from Rs 300 to Rs 200 per
sq metre for core areas of Bengaluru (covering 100 wards) and from Rs
350 to Rs 250 per sq. mtr. for the newly added areas.
Kacharakanahalli
corporator Padmanabha Reddy, Yediyur corporator N.R. Ramesh and others
sought to know if owners of individual sites were eligible to
regularise their property holdings if their sites were converted for
non-agriculture purpose.
A few corporators said the fee benefited only builders and realtors, and not the poor.
BBMP
Commissioner M. Lakshminarayan said the BBMP would be able to sustain
itself financially if both Akarama-Sakrama and betterment fee are
collected to regularise unauthorised and deviated portions.
The
new rule states that owners of bulk land who have converted their
properties for non-agricultural purposes can pay the betterment fee and
get ‘A’ khata.
Subsequently, they can develop the land by seeking
clearances from the development authority by paying the requisite fee.
Certain legalities, however, should be followed and it differs from
case to case, he clarified.
But individual sites on a converted plot cannot enjoy betterment fee facility unless the layout plan is followed. The other violations should have to wait for Sakrama scheme to be implemented, he said.
Padmanabha
Reddy said that since the present Sakrama scheme benefits less than 10
per cent of property owners, the mayor should request the government to
extend the deadline to file objections.
for objections to Sakrama draft rules and January 30 is set as the last
date. He suggested that a delegation from the BBMP meet city in-charge
Minister Ramalinga Reddy for the extension of deadline.
