BENGALURU: Visitors to the Bangalore Development Authority (BDA) office at Banashankari IInd Stage where the provisional Revised Master Plan-2031 for the city is on display feel the CDs on the plan are expensive. BDA defends it saying a GST tax of 18 per cent jacked up the cost. A set of four CDs has been priced at Rs 1,200. Each of the four CDs on ‘Existing Land Use Maps’, ‘Proposed Land Use Maps’, ‘Zoning Regulations’ and ‘Master Plan Reports’ costs Rs 300.
Harish Venkataswamy, a resident of Banashankari 3rd Stage, and four of his friends came over to find the status of their lands through the maps. “My land in Sarjapur Road is presently under the Yellow belt (residential zone). I just came to check if it has been classified under the Green belt (agricultural category),” he said.
The group was really shocked by the cost of the CDs. “We all thought it was too expensive. So, instead of each one of us buying a set, we paid Rs 1,200 in total and bought a series. While one of us will have the original, the rest of us will copy it from him using a pen drive,” Venkataswamy added. N Umesh, a civil engineer, says, “It is a little bit high. A CD costs just Rs 10. This is after all created for public consumption. Even latest entertainment CDs do not cost this much.” The sentiment was shared by Damodara Reddy, who runs his own transportation business.
“If they price it at Rs 100, I am sure large numbers will purchase.” However, he recalled the previous time the plan was released with only the hardcopy made available. “I do not remember correctly. But it cost nearly Rs 10,000. So, none could afford it.” However, a BDA official corrected the statement saying the handbook of the previous Master Plan cost nearly Rs 5,000. Asked about the reason for the expensive pricing, a top BDA official said, “The entire RMP is on our website for the public to download on their devices. They can even take printouts of it, if required.
There is no need for them to even buy the CDs.” The official added, “Each CD costs a little over Rs 250. “We are forced to add an 18 per cent GST for each CD.” The provisional plan was made public on November 25. Anywhere between 200 and 300 members of the public have been viewing them each day though only onethird of them chose to register their presence in the log book. However, due to the chilly conditions on Friday, there were only 47 visitors.
Bizarre Timings
The timings and days the BDA chose to display its Master Plan are quite bizarre. It is closed on all government holidays (which includes Eid on Saturday) and Sundays when people are likely to have some time at their disposal. Even the working days it has been displayed, the timings are between 10 am and 5.30 pm, when most who want to view it would be at work. An official conceded that BDA needed to put its staff on a rotation basis and extend the display on timings as well as holidays.