CBI probe sought into de-notification of land

The Hindu,Bangalore, K.N. Chakrapani, General Secretary of the Janata Dal (Secular), has sought an inquiry by the Central Bureau of Investigation (CBI) into the de-notification of 4,500 acres of land acquired by the State Government for forming residential layouts around Bangalore over the past four-and-a-half years.

He told presspersons here on Saturday that de-notification of precious land, which had been going on for over four years, had resulted in vested interests amassing over Rs. 1,000 crore. The de-notification of land was in progress despite the model code of conduct coming into force, and the officials concerned were issuing pre-dated orders.

The other general secretaries of the party, Y.S.V. Datta, T. Prabhakar and M.V. Sriganesh, were also present. The Janata Dal(S) has brought out a booklet on the "land scam", and the party is planning to circulate copies of it to the voters in the city.

Mr. Chakrapani, who released several documents related to the de-notification of land, said the matter pertaining to the process was under the charge of a few officials in the Urban Development Department and the Bangalore Development Authority (BDA). "For every acre of land de-notified, not less than Rs. 20 lakh had been collected as a fee, and the amount varied based on the location of the land in question," he said.

He said that it would have been good had the lands been returned to their original owners. The de-notified lands were "given to the land mafia, real estate developers, and apartment builders who obviously made a kill."

"The modus operandi was that the land mafia and the developers would first identify the notified lands and strike a deal with the original land owners who would be paid a small advance. Thereafter, using their clout in the Government and the BDA, the lands would be de-notified for the benefit of forming private residential layouts or for construction of apartments. The de-notification of large tracts of land has obviously resulted in the mushrooming of apartments, resorts, and private residential layouts around Bangalore."

He said the de-notification of land commenced as early as February 2001 when the Srigandhadakaval Layout near Yeshwantapur notified by the J.H. Patel Government was de-notified.

The 468 acres of land was returned to the "original owners". The authorities did not spell out any reason for winding up the proposal to form the layout although steps had been taken to form it by the previous Government.

Thereafter at Anjanapura Township in Bangalore south, while the authorities had proposed to acquire 634 acres as per the preliminary notification, only 459 acres was acquired as per the final notification issued on August 28, 2000 resulting in 176 acres being de-notified.

Thereafter, the de-notification of land further accelerated. On May 7, 2001, the authorities de-notified 748 acres at Hosur Road-Sarjapur Road (HSR) Layout. "The entire scheme pertaining to further extension of the layout was dropped benefiting the land mafia at the expense of the common man who otherwise would have had the benefit of having a house site from the BDA".

This was followed by the Government de-notifying 540 acres at Banashankari 6th Stage Layout as per its order issued on August 23, 2001. He said the Government had since de-notified 340 acres for further extension of Anjanapura Layout (order dated March 4, 2002), 359 acres at Visvesvaraya Layout (October 31, 2002), 263 acres for further extension of Visvesvaraya Layout (September 10, 2003), 782 acres for further extension of Banashankari 6th Stage Layout (November 21, 2002), and 589 acres for Arkavathi Layout (February 23, 2004).

Besides, the Government had also de-notified 199 acres in various pockets of Bangalore, including at Thippasandra, Bhoopasandra, Kothanur, Kadugondanahalli, Nagavara, Nagarabhavi, Koramangala, and other places, he added.