In a move that will hit the slew of land grants made to religious institutions recently by the Bharatiya Janata Party government, the Election Commission has now turned down a plea for granting permission for change of land use in various cities and towns.
The process will be on hold till the completion of the election process to the Legislative Assembly. uring meetings, presided over by Chief Minister Jagadish Shettar, held recently, land was granted or given on lease to maths, educational institutions, and community associations.
A series of grants were made at the Cabinet meet on May 16 alone. This include providing a five-acre plot to Koodala Sangama Panchmashali Math at Sompura village near Nelamangala and giving a 1.25-acre land on lease for a Kuruba association near Shiggaon in Haveri district. The Cabinet had also extended the lease period of the land used by the Rashtrothana Parishat, near Gavipuram, in Bangalore. The government had proposed to acquire land at Anekal taluk for developing Suryanagar phase IV layout.
In a letter to the Chief Electoral Officer (CEO) Anil Kumar Jha, the Urban Development Department sought his permission to allow it to clear applications seeking change of land use. But the CEO told the department that “decision in respect of the application for change of land use should be put on hold during the period of the model code of conduct.”
The CEO told The Hindu: “We categorically said that no action should be taken for grant or lease of government lands till the completion of the election process.”
When a land in a survey number coming in the jurisdiction of a town planning authority (for example, the Bangalore Development Authority) is earmarked as a residential zone in the Comprehensive Development Plan but the owner of the land wants to use it for industrial purposes, he/she/institution will have to obtain change of use under the provisions of Section 14-A of the Karnataka Town and Country Planning Act, 1961, from the BDA. In cases where the change of land use is sought from commercial/ industrial to residential or from industrial to commercial uses and purposes, the planning authority will collect a stipulated fee and grant permission for change of land use, said experts in the realty sector.
