The Hindu : Karnataka / Bangalore News : `Legislature should decide changes in land use pattern'

Online edition of India's National Newspaper
Tuesday, Jul 12, 2005

Karnataka

Karnataka - Bangalore

`Legislature should decide changes in land use pattern'

Staff Reporter

BANGALORE: Any future changes in land use that deviate from the zoning pattern suggested in the Bangalore Master Plan 2015 should be allowed only by a vote in the legislature, the Chief Secretary. K.K. Misra, said on Monday.

Speaking at the inauguration of the public viewing of the revised comprehensive draft of the Master Plan, Mr. Misra said changes in the land use pattern should be decided following a debate in the legislature and not at the individual discretion of a Minister. He suggested that in any area where the land use pattern has been altered in the Master Plan, individuals who plan to sell land have to ensure that the pattern is followed. If not, they will have to return the land to development authority. "Mumbai has been successful in following this rule. We should also try it," he said.

A large number of people stood in queues to see the maps and documents of the Master Plan. A resident of Malleswaram was concerned that the roads in the area shown in the comprehensive development plan (CDP) are not fully drawn. A resident of Jayanagar was anxious to know whether he can build a commercial complex on his site. The Bangalore Development Authority (BDA) has installed six computers to show satellite images of areas. Officials of the organisation explained to the public the plans for the city.

More than 5,000 persons viewed the draft plan. By afternoon, the pamphlets that the BDA had prepared were over.

The draft master plan, developed by the BDA in association with French consultants SCE Creocean India Pvt Ltd., covers 1,306 sq.km, including the areas under seven city municipal councils and one town municipal council.

Green belt

The 1995 CDP's urban sprawl was limited to 295 sq.km, and the new draft plan expects it to increase to 565 sq.km. "Every year, 2,200 hectares of built-up space is being added to the city," the BDA Commissioner, M.N. Vidyashankar, said.

The draft plan is organised around concentric plans — the core area consisting of the central business district, the administrative area; and the peri-central area, comprising recent extensions, new layouts and the green belt.

Business district

The draft plan recommends demarcating a central business district, upgrading the core area and building a "core ring road" along with the intermediate ring road, outer ring road and the proposed peripheral road.

The Bangalore Metropolitan Regional Development Authority, which has 5,000 sq.km under its jurisdiction, is also preparing a development plan.

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