BANGALORE: The Bangalore Development Authority (BDA) has blocked off several sites with shoddy planning, according to site owners in Arkavathy Layout.
The Allottees Association, in a letter, accuses the government of denotifying land in a manner that has left several pockets stranded with no access to roads.
Faced with a logistical nightmare, site owners are now being forced to jump fences and wade through slush to reach their sites, according to the letter, also posted on the association's page on Facebook.
Previously, another letter written in March last year had informed the BDA that the road had reduced in size from the planned 60 feet to just 20 feet because the government had returned land earmarked for the layout to private parties. An owner who had managed to get his land denotified had built a compound wall leaving only 20 feet for the proposed road. Now, however, even that road is gone. According to the association, there is "no approach road to this 18th Block at all".
According to the association, the land adjacent to and in front of Bangalore International School has been denotified. Work on the layout began in 2013 just ahead of the elections. However, the association members had then termed the work an eyewash.
Although site registration is proceeding, many allottees are in for a rude shock when they try to visit their plots.
"Site owners who have been given possession of their sites in this 18th Block are forced to swim across small ponds of water and jump over fences put up by land owners," the letter states.
"Did the BDA believe this problem would go away? Where will they build the road now?" said an allottee who did not want to be named. The layout is doomed, he rued, and has made owners run around, "putting our lives on hold."
Meanwhile, the association is asking members to approach the High Court to demand a CBI enquiry into all denotifications in Arkavathy Layout.
In July this year, despite repeated demands from the opposition for a CBI enquiry, Chief Minister Siddaramaiah had offered a probe by a retired judge instead. This is now clearly unacceptable to a majority of the allottees.
The preliminary land acquisition notification for the layout was issued in 2003 September and included 3,839 acres. However, after a court order, 1,089 acres were removed from the plan. The final notification for the layout covered 2,750 acres.
Several High Court cases later, six guidelines were issued for lands which could be denotified. These include land within the green belt area, totally built up land, properties with buildings built by charitable, educational or religious institutions, nurseries, land on which factories were built and land similar to adjoining land which had not been notified.
However, a revised plan filed by the BDA this year excludes 983 acres bringing the extent of the layout down to 1,766 acres. The BJP had claimed that huge tracts were denotified under the ‘nurseries’ category. The Congress hit back claiming that no denotification had taken place since it came to power.
From 22,000 sites, the layout plan has now shrunk to 11,000. City Express made several calls to the Allottees Association president, but he did not respond. BDA Commissioner T Sham Bhat did not respond to calls either.