Misuse of Funds by BDA Revealed

BENGALURU: In a shocking revelation, RTI activists have charged that BDA and Urban Development Department officials have misappropriated funds to the tune of `500-`1,000 crore.

B M Shivkumar, president, Jayaprakash Narayan Vichar Vedike, told reporters on Tuesday that the BDA has duped thousands of people under its affordable housing scheme. In 2010-11 and 2011-12, the BDA advertised a housing scheme costing `5 lakh, `7 lakh and `13.5 lakh for 1 BHK, 2 BHK and 3 BHK houses, respectively. Shivkumar alleged that even after the payment of initial deposits three years ago, the authorities have failed to allot houses to the beneficiaries. 

“Around 5,000 people from various low-income groups opted for the houses under this scheme,” he said. Documents procured by the organisation revealed that many have now opted to surrender their allotment letters as the BDA had doubled, and in some cases, tripled the prices, he alleged.

He said the flat initially offered for `7 lakh now costs `21 lakh and the flat offered for `13.5 lakh has now escalated to `35 lakh. The Vedike has now filed a complaint with the Lokayukta asking them to take action against officials of the BDA and urban development department.