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Here's
how to dejargonise Karnataka land scam
Thursday November 18, 2010 05:11:12 PM,
V.S. Karnic, IANS
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Bangalore:
'G' category sites, denotification, KIADB, 'putra vyamoha'...
among the frequently uttered words these days in Karnataka where
land grabbing has reached scandalous proportions with allegations
levelled against no less than the chief minister.
To fathom what exactly has been alleged, read on.
'G' category sites are sought after as they are mostly in prime
residential areas of the nation's tech hub Bangalore. These are in
housing localities developed by the Bangalore Development
Authority.
Chief ministers enjoy exclusive rights over allotment of these
sites, meant mainly for people who achieved eminence but do not
own a residential property in Bangalore.
However, over the years most of these plots have gone to political
leaders, their relatives, powerful bureaucrats and movers and
shakers in the power corridors of Vidhana Soudha, the state
secretariat.
The price of these sites varies. The biggest size of 4,000 sq ft
(50ftX80ft) in a posh locality comes at less than Rs.10 lakh
($21,000). However, the market price for such a plot is a minimum
of Rs.1 crore ($220,000).
Denotification is another process that can be used to help the
favoured in land allotment for residential, industrial or
commercial purposes.
KIADB (Karntaka Industrial Areas Development Board) is the
government agency that acquires land for various projects by
'notifying' the owners that their land is being taken over after
payment of compensation.
The governments can subsequently 'denotify' the land, freeing it
from its control. The freed land can be allotted to people at a
price much lower than the market price as KIADB had bought it
paying minimum compensation on the basis that the area was taken
over 'for public benefit'.
'Putra vyamoha' is in the air as the latest scandal rocking
Karnataka involves Chief Minister B.S. Yeddyurappa and his sons.
Yeddyurappa has sanctioned a "G' category site in Raja Mahal Vilas
Extension, a prime residential locality in Bangalore, to one of
his sons B.Y. Raghavendra, who is a Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP)
MP and has two residential properties already in Bangalore.
Raghavendra and his sibling B.Y. Vijeyendra also got a two acre
plot of industrial land near Bangalore in 2007 when Yeddyurappa
was deputy chief minister. They got the land for an auto component
manufacturing company within 15 days of applying for it. In the
normal course, it would take months for allotment.
Yeddyurappa had defended the allotments to his sons saying he has
not broken any rule.
The chief minister is also accused of making favoured land
allotments to his daughter, son-in-law, sister and her son and
daughter-in-law.
Insisting that he has done what his predecessors did, Yeddyurappa
has announced he will request a retired Supreme Court judge to
probe all land deals in Bangalore in the last 10 years.
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