Bengaluru: With the ongoing demolition drive evoking criticism that it was only targeting the poor, while big builders were being spared, private realtors’ body CREDAI has refuted charges of obtaining illegal sanctions and said the drive was adversely affecting the city’s investment climate. It said the allegations that developers had obtained wrongful sanctions and permissions in connivance with officers were baseless.
Addressing reporters on Friday, CREDAI national chairman, Irfan Razak, said, “A plan sanction is not snatched from the hands of one officer overnight. Every plan sanction goes through at least seven to eight stages of verification, vetting, inspections etc. This procedure takes around two years or more. When it goes through such a stringent and lengthy process, how is it even possible to obtain illegal sanctions?”
The members said that the problem has been further compounded due to BBMP disowning the sanctions granted by its officials. The members also said that while legitimate demolitions are understandable, confusion around the demolition has adversely affected the image of ‘Brand Bengaluru.’
“Due to bad publicity, MNCs, software companies and other giants are already jittery and are seriously looking at neighbouring states such as Telengana and Andhra Pradesh. This is running completely counter to the huge promotional activities taken up by the Government under ‘Invest Karnataka’,” Razak said.
The forum added that the CDP plans drawn up by BDA every 10 years are prepared after lengthy research and public debate. But giving cognisance to and pulling out ancient, century-old maps is only creating confusion and panic amongst home buyers.
It maintained that CREDAI was not against the demolition of illegal structures, but the poor should have been given due warning and provided resettlement plans before embarking on an overnight demolition drive.
Offering a solution to this problem, the forum said it was willing to work with the government to design a permanent drain network for the city with the help of experts, both local and international and contribute through its CSR funds.
