Scams robbed BDA of nearly Rs 2k crore, 50+ acres: SR Vishwanath

Scams robbed BDA of nearly Rs 2k crore, 50+ acres: SR Vishwanath
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BENGALURU: With Chief Minister BS Yediyurappa, who also holds the Bengaluru Development portfolio, coming down heavily on corruption in the Bangalore Development Authority (BDA) in the Legislative Assembly on February 5, the organisation synonymous with scandals since the 90s, has earned further notoriety. 

Created in January 1976 as the principal planning authority for the city, its massive real estate activities have turned it into a beehive of corrupt practices. The New Indian Express caught up with BDA Chairman and Yelahanka MLA SR Vishwanath on his plans for the organisation. 

A public service agency created for the City’s growth is often in the limelight for all the wrong reasons. Of late, skeletons are tumbling out of the closet more frequently. Why is this so?
The scams are not new and date back 10-15 years. After I took over as chairman, I was keen on solving issues of Arkavathy and Kempegowda Layouts. 

In December, a week after I assumed charge, the Commissioner informed me about a major scandal on Cunningham Road (where a parallel BDA set-up was created by one of the Deputy Secretaries and a few staffer and site documents were being readied) and a raid to be conducted. We were successful and after that, I have received many calls from the public about various malpractices, helping us bring them to light. 

What is the total extent of loss, in terms of money and land, that the BDA has incurred due to various scandals? Which ones have impacted it the most? 
The BDA has lost approximately Rs 2,000 crore due to various scams. The land lost is more than 50 acres and in prime areas. The biggest scam is the Binnypet bulk site allotment. The Binny Mills Employees Association had, in 1986, requested the BDA to allot 20x30 sqft sites for its employees and paid us Rs 22 lakh towards that. The Authority purchased 5.5 acres in Banashankari but gave sites to only 80 out of 750 employees. The Mill wound up later.

But 20 years later, some of our officers approached some retired employees and proposed giving them sites in exchange for money. The Board approval too was secured. In place of 20x30 sqft sites, allotments were made for 50x80 sqft and 60x40 sqft sites, totalling 25.85 guntas in J P Nagar, Jnana Bharati and in different layouts and is 100% illegal. Allotment was made within four days in March 2018 for 111 people who are not Binny Mill employees, but relatives of real estate agents and officials.

The Commissioner has now cancelled all the allotments and the file has been sent to the State government. The same happened with Bhavani Housing Society and non-members are approaching us 30 years after initial allotment, with the help of some officials. In another case, some agents bought land and instead of them being given 25,000 sqft of land, they were given 50,000 sqft in HBR Layout and Nagarbhavi where the cost per sqft is Rs 15,000.

The Hosakerahalli scam (sites meant to rehabilitate slum dwellers of Banashanakari IIIrd Stage, who lost their homes to fire, allotted to others) has been identified. The biggest is the the corner site scam (wherein portions of corner sites are split and sold as separate sites with fresh BDA documents). 

BDA officials are always held responsible for the scams. But they could not have flourished without some kind of political backing for such a long time. 
Maybe some politicians are involved, but we don’t know their names. More than politicians, the agents who used to frequent the BDA office are the main culprits. They have all been kept out now. Also, we will be amending the BDA Act shortly so that officials can be transferred anywhere in the state. 

The CM had recently stated that even he could not gain access to BDA files. Why?
The real reason is that there is no digitalisation of documents in the BDA. Many old files have gone missing. If the clerk who takes care of some files says it is not available, there is nothing we can do. Even a clerk is more powerful than the Commissioner as of now! The Board has approved a Rs 80-crore digitalisation project. This will ensure safety and accessibility of files. 

How do you plan to rid BDA of the deeply entrenched corruption. Any other development plans?
Within three months, we plan to shuffle all the officers - from the level of clerk to the commissioner. We want to build flyovers, roads and other infrastructure with the profits got from sale of corner sites. Our revenues will improve as we are set to collect a regularisation fee of up to Rs 15,000 crore from owners of nearly 75,000 unauthorised houses built on BDA property. 
 

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