BENGALURU: The ambitious plan mooted in August 2018 by the state’s Home department to buy 2,000 flats of the Bangalore Development Authority for police personnel was seen as a win-win situation for both departments. Police personnel could be provided with decent flats which could be purchased at an economical price, and the BDA on the other hand could solve the problem of its unsold flats. But the move looks unlikely to materialise now.
Senior BDA officials said that interest from the government has completely waned due to lack of funds, and the plan appears to be shelved. However, Home Minister MB Patil told The New Indian Express that though the move has not been outrightly cancelled as such, other options to provide housing for the police are being explored.
The Home department was eyeing 2BHK flats in Kanminike and Komaghatta areas. The cost of a flat was Rs 25 lakh but a ten per cent discount was offered as a special gesture to the department since it was a big bulk purchase. The proposal was expected to cost the government over Rs 600 crore.
Patil said, “There are two reasons why we are not moving forward now. Firstly, many of the personnel for whom these flats were planned were not very interested. The other reason is the huge cost factor.” There were plans to demolish an existing seven-floored police quarters and convert into a nine-floored building. The New Indian Express had recently highlighted the dilapidated state of the police quarters on Mysuru Road.
The Karnataka Police Housing Corporation and Infrastructure Development Corporation (KPHC and IDC) Managing Director H Auradkar said that any decision on buying the BDA flats will be taken only by the state government. “The Police Housing Corporation is carrying out housing projects for the police, and those are going on smoothly,” he said.
A senior BDA official said: “The state budget should have earmarked the funds for purchase of the flats.”
In all probability the plan has been dropped, added another BDA official.