BENGALURU: WITH the Bruhat Bengaluru Mahanagara Palike (BBMP) going tough with its demolition drive, some cautious builders have temporarily stopped work on their underconstruction projects.
They do not want to take the risk of continuing with the construction without first being sure whether their land falls on encroached areas or not.
An employee with a private firm, Prasanna Srinivas, said he has invested money on an apartment being constructed near Bannerghatta Road.
“My builder is not sure whether that land falls in an encroached area. He is neither denying it not accepting it. I have paid `3 lakh on pre-booking. We do not know what to do,” he said. “The excuse they are giving is they are not getting sand and therefore, work has stopped.”
Balaraj, who owns a shop at Vidyaranyapura, said he has booked an apartment nearby.
“The lawyer is checking the building documents though the builder claims it is legal. I wanted to conduct house-warming ceremony in Shraavanamasa (which is auspicious). But it’s postponed. What if I invite all my relatives and friends and they say it is illegal? It will be an embarrassment,” he said
Shivakumar, a manager with a private construction company, who did not wish to reveal his firm’s name, said real estate business involves huge money.
“We have collected money as pre-booking from customers. Along with this, we have taken loans from banks. When we started procuring land, there was clearance from our legal department. Now, with the media reports, we are skeptical about it continuing. We have already invested money and it needs huge amounts to complete the project. We are cross-checking to make sure that we are legally right. In case ours is found to be illegal, we do not want to take the risk by investing more,” he said.
However, the Confederation of Real Estate Developers’ Associations of India has a different take. CREDAI Secretary Suresh Hari claimed that the builders in their association had not constructed apartments or any building on encroached land.
“We go by the City Development Plan. The High Court has also said construction as per the City Development Plan is permissible. Even the state government cannot ignore this,” he said.
Suresh also said many villages were added to form the BBMP and some village maps are as old as 100 years. “The village maps are not relevant today. If we go by that, most of the structures in Bengaluru have to be demolished,” he said.