Urban slum? Amid missing master plan, BDA converts 1,155 acres in just a year

Taking shelter under the outdated master plan, the Bangalore Development Authority (BDA) has converted over 1,155 acres of mostly agricultural land for residential purposes in a span of one year. The BDA also cleared the formation of 51 private housing layouts and 39 high-rise buildings during the same period.

Experts term the sheer magnitude of these approvals in a short term “scandalous”.

Such approvals, particularly the change of land use, were not accorded as generously as Bengaluru does not have an up-to-date master plan. The reason: it leads to unorganised development in certain pockets, making it difficult to provide basic infrastructure such as water supply, drainage and road network.

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Secondly, it also makes it costlier and more difficult to acquire converted land for public purposes.

Understanding these factors, requests for change of land use (CLU) were not taken seriously ever since the Revised Master Plan (RMP) expired in 2017.

Sources, however, said the BDA has been generously approving such files in the last year especially after the state government scrapped the RMP 2031, on a frivolous basis.

According to documents available with DH, the BDA approved CLU for 195 properties spread over 1,155 acres in 2022-23. This is at least 10 times more than the approvals accorded during the previous years.

Other than the change of land use, the BDA has approved 39 development plans totalling around 942 acres, and 51 private residential layouts spread over 398 acres. In all, the BDA has issued approvals for 2,500 acres of land at rocket speed. This has raised concerns about urban sprawl and further deterioration of public services in peripheral areas.

Urban planners believe the sheer number of approvals, especially in the absence of a zonal plan, will turn peripheral areas into an “urban slum”.

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“What we are seeing is a mind-boggling number. The chief minister should immediately intervene and put a stop to such approvals. The RMP must immediately be prepared or the 2031 RMP be restored,” a planner said on the condition of anonymity.

A senior BDA official said the total approvals might sound big but it is just 2 per cent when the BDA’s total limit is taken into account. “There has been a delay in updating the master plan but it will surely be done,” he said.

Radha Chanchani, an urban development expert, said approvals in the absence of an up-to-date master plan defy logic. “What we will see is haphazard development. It can also be unsustainable as extending services of Bescom, BWSSB etc to select pockets is not easy; it's more inefficient and costly, too. What we need is a compact growth model, and updating the master plan has to be taken up on priority,” she said.