Karnataka gets cracking on real estate mess, sets new layout rules
- New rules require that 0.5 acres of land will be mandatory to approve development of new layouts.
- The regulations will help curb bylaw violations and reduce shoddy project execution.
- The government is also digitising the approval process for new projects.
FollowAfter it had announced the extension of the Akrama-Sakrama scheme for regularisation of buildings that violated regulations, the Karnataka government is planning to set 0.5 acres as the minimum amount of land needed to approve residential layout development. The move is expected to curb illegalities in the real estate business where buildings constructed on small tracts of land numerous laws.
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Speaking to the Times of India, Urban Development Secretary V Ponnuraj explained that the government would move an amendment to the Karnataka Town and Country Planning Act, 1961, in the Budget Session of the State Assembly. In an affidavit submitted to the High Court, Ponnuraj explained that on layouts developed on less than 0.5 acres of land, developers leave hardly any land between sites. This often forces owners to violate bylaws, a rampant issue in cities such as Bengaluru.
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Development on these tracts of land also affects small landowners who are often cheated by developers. Allaying fears that the new rule could adversely affect the prospects of owners of small properties, Ponnuraj said the government would buy such properties for development activities.
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The proposed regulation is part of initiatives by the State government to clean up the real estate sector in Karnataka. The government recently announced that the process of granting approvals for new buildings and layouts would be taken online to cut corruption and increase transparency. Officials of the Urban Development Department told the New Indian Express on January 7 that the process would be operational in three months, making Karnataka the first state in India to have such a system.
