With acquisition of 892 acres in limbo, formation of Nadaprabhu Kempegowda Layout in Bengaluru still a distant dream

Karnataka government had issued a notification to acquire 4,043.27 acres of land in 2014. Bangalore Development Authority (BDA) acquired only 2,642.1 acres.

Bengaluru 

The formation of a full-fledged Nadaprabhu Kempegowda Layout (NPK) still remains a distant dream, as acquisition of about 892 acres of land is in limbo owing to a legal battle and on technical grounds.

Karnataka government had issued a notification to acquire 4,043.27 acres of land in 2014. After acquiring 2,642.1 acres, Bangalore Development Authority (BDA) handed over the land to the engineering department for development of the layout.

While the BDA has developed 107 civic amenities (CA) sites, it has illegally converted 94 CA sites into residential plots. The BDA recently stated that it will find out who was involved in the scam and estimate the loss due to these irregularities. The BDA is yet to acquire 1,296.17 acres of land for layout development. 

Even as work in the acquired land is on at snail’s pace, the acquisition of 892 acres has hit a roadblock. So far, construction of about 100 houses are underway in the layout. 

According to documents accessed by The Hindu, the Finance Department has denied approval for providing alternative sites to owners of land or plot on 315.02 acres of revenue areas notified for acquisition. Hence, the BDA has to explore other options for compensation, and then acquire the land. According to sources, the BDA has written to the government again on the same.

The BDA cited the Junjamma case of 2004 in the High Court of Karnataka. The HC had upheld BDA’s acquisition of land and directed the land owners to apply for a site in the same layout (Sir M Visvesvaraya II Stage Layout). The court did not agree for an alternative site as compensation, but asked the petitioners to apply for a site (30*40) as fresh applicants in the same layout.