The Hindu 04.01.2011
BDA plans to focus more on apartment complexes
‘The move will contain unbridled horizontal growth of city’
New approach: The BDA plans to adopt a public-private-partnership model for the apartment complexes. — file photo
The city is poised to grow skyward with the Bangalore Development
Authority (BDA) planning a major policy shift to build more
multi-storeyed apartment complexes.
The traditional slant in favour of sites is evident from
the fact that the BDA has built only 3,744 flats while allotting nearly
1.4 lakh sites since its inception in 1976.
Terming the traditional approach as “untenable” in a
market where prices are rocketing skyward, BDA Commissioner Bharat Lal
Meena said: “We want to have fewer sites and substantially increase the
number of flats in future layouts to benefit middle and lower income
groups.”
He explained that such a move would also contain the unbridled horizontal growth of the city.
Speaking to The Hindu on Monday, Mr. Meena said
the shift would be visible in the proposed Kempe Gowda Layout near
Magadi Road. He said the Karnataka Town and Country Planning Act would
be amended to facilitate this shift. Once it becomes law, BDA will
mandatorily set aside a chunk of land for construction of multi-storeyed
apartment complexes. Sources in the BDA said that the Chief Minister
had been briefed about it.
Area of concern
An area of concern is the public-private-partnership
model that the BDA plans to adopt. Simply put, the BDA will provide the
land and the private partner will construct the building. The builder
will be given a portion of the complex which he can sell at any price.
The remaining flats will be allotted at “nominal” prices fixed by the
BDA.
There is a fear that the private player will make
exorbitant gains for negligible investment, while also pushing up market
prices for the remaining flats. Given the inflationary trends, the
original allottees too might be tempted to sell the apartment. In the
process, the core aim of affordable housing may become the biggest
casualty.
Responding to this, Mr. Meena said that as the BDA would
sell a sizeable portion of the flats, it would be able to keep a tab on
the rates.
