Chief minister BS Yediyurappa, who held discussions with heads of different government departments, mentioned two or three areas as potential sources of revenue, including a real estate regularisation drive, officials said.
The government, Yediyurappa said, will speed up disposal of cases pending before the high court and the Supreme Court with regard to regularisation of unauthorised constructions.
BENGALURU: The Karnataka government, whose finances have been stretched by the Covid-19 crisis, is looking to raise funds through a drive to regularise unauthorised constructions and housing layouts in Bengaluru. Chief minister BS Yediyurappa, who held discussions with heads of different government departments, mentioned two or three areas as potential sources of revenue, including a real estate regularisation drive, officials said. The CM also said that the state government will take steps to overcome legal hurdles.
Yediyurappa has asked the departments to come up with suggestions on how the state can shore up revenue as demand for funds emerges from the health, farming and labour sectors in view of the coronavirus led lockdown. Tens of thousands of buildings and several housing layouts have come up predominantly in and around Bengaluru without approval from the authorities. There are also thousands of instances of deviation from terms of land use and building plans.
Numerous property-related cases are lying unsettled in courts for want of a clear legal framework. The government has decided to pursue these cases in the courts and, at the same time, work on legal remedies to squeeze out as much revenues as it can.
The government, Yediyurappa said, will speed up disposal of cases pending before the high court and the Supreme Court with regard to regularisation of unauthorised constructions. If the courts decide the matters, thousands of people who own unauthorised houses will get relief. The government, too, will get funds for development work, he said.
The government has also asked Bangalore Development Authority (BDA) to take steps to identify and auction more than 12,000 corner plots in its possession. “When we go for public auction of plots, we usually get good prices. We will go ahead only if we get a good price,” the chief minister said.
The government will also take steps to auction corner sites lying with the urban development authority in other cities, he said.
