Many landowners who bought sites in Nadaprabhu Kempegowda Layout for residential purposes are in a pickle since the Bengaluru Development Authority (BDA) has been delaying the process of collecting betterment charges from them. They are neither in a position to sell it or construct their dream homes.
They said that paying betterment charges will help residents and investors get “A” khata from the present “gramathana” site or revenue site status. Revenue sites are considered illegal, hence the owners face many limitations and legal issues.
The land owners said that they were not able to sell land or sites because buyers don’t get loans from nationalised banks without a khata. Private banks which give loans are charging high interest rates ranging from 14% to 18%. As a result, land mafia is fleecing people to sell at lower rates as buyers don’t come easily to invest in such sites.
This has driven down real estate prices in the area. It will be a great relief for farmers and landowners at Seegehalli, Kannalli, Kodigehalli, Manganahalli, Kommaghatta, Bheemanakuppe, Ramasagara, Sulikere, Kenchanapura, Ramasandra, K Krishnasagar, and Challaghatta if BDA collects betterment charges.
“I bought the site at a private layout but was not able to get the housing loan from a nationalised bank. We are not sure about BDA issuing a notice acquiring the layout where I bought the site. It will be easy for me to avail a housing loan or sell my site if the BDA collects betterment fees and issues me A khata for my site,’’ said Prashant, a site owner.
They said that they were not able to get building plan approval that is not given to sites without khata as a result any construction is deemed illegal and they are not able to avail basic necessities like water and electricity connection. “Business, industries, and schools in the area are also unable to get trade licenses and raise loans because of the same issue,’’ said a site owner.
BDA Board has approved the collection of betterment tax in both Arkavathy layout and Nadaprabhu Kempegowda Layout simultaneously. The state government has already passed a gazette in 2018-19 to collect betterment tax in 2018.
The BDA has fixed Rs 80,000 per gunta. Even newly formed BDA layouts, formed 10 years after the formation of Nadaprabhu Kempegowda Layout, have been allowed to pay betterment tax. Nagaraj M, a farmer, who owns land adjacent to Nadaprabhu Kempegowda Layout, has said that he has applied to pay betterment charges. “I want to pay the betterment charges but the BDA is not ready to collect it. It will be a great help for me if the BDA collects the betterment charges,’’ said Nagaraj.
Meanwhile, the BDA Land Acquisition Officer has said the BDA is yet to take a decision on collecting the betterment charges from land owners at Nadaprabhu Kempegowda Layout.
