Bangalore: With the upcoming Lok Sabha elections in mind, the BBMP on Wednesday reduced the betterment fee, which was approved by palike members on Tuesday, benefiting thousands of people.
Scores of corporators, including former Mayor S.K. Nataraj, demanded a cut in the betterment fee.
The council passed a resolution reducing the fee from Rs 300 to Rs 200 per sq metre for core areas of Bengaluru (covering 100 wards) and from Rs 350 to Rs 250 per sq. mtr. for the newly added areas.
Kacharakanahalli corporator Padmanabha Reddy, Yediyur corporator N.R. Ramesh and others sought to know if owners of individual sites were eligible to regularise their property holdings if their sites were converted for non-agriculture purpose.
A few corporators said the fee benefited only builders and realtors, and not the poor.
BBMP Commissioner M. Lakshminarayan said the BBMP would be able to sustain itself financially if both Akarama-Sakrama and betterment fee are collected to regularise unauthorised and deviated portions.
The new rule states that owners of bulk land who have converted their properties for non-agricultural purposes can pay the betterment fee and get ‘A’ khata.
Subsequently, they can develop the land by seeking clearances from the development authority by paying the requisite fee. Certain legalities, however, should be followed and it differs from case to case, he clarified.
But individual sites on a converted plot cannot enjoy betterment fee facility unless the layout plan is followed. The other violations should have to wait for Sakrama scheme to be implemented, he said.
Padmanabha Reddy said that since the present Sakrama scheme benefits less than 10 per cent of property owners, the mayor should request the government to extend the deadline to file objections.
The government has called for objections to Sakrama draft rules and January 30 is set as the last date. He suggested that a delegation from the BBMP meet city in-charge Minister Ramalinga Reddy for the extension of deadline.
