The Bangalore Development Authority (BDA) has hiked prices of flats in the city, thus making them out of reach for citizens belonging to the economically weaker sections and lower middle class, charged B.M. Shivakumar, president of Jayaprakash Narayan Vichara Vedike.
Speaking to reporters on Tuesday, he likened the BDA, which is supposed to provide housing facilities at “no loss, no profit” basis, to “private property developers”.
He pointed out that the BDA was given land by the government for construction of flats under the Ashraya housing scheme at a cheap rate. The authority had advertised about the flats in 2011-12. According to the advertisement, a one- bedroom flat was priced at Rs. 5 lakh, a two-bedroom flat at Rs. 7.5 lakh and three-bedroom flats at Rs. 13.5 lakh. However, the BDA subsequently decided to hike prices suddenly by several lakhs .
Citing the case of Doddabanahalli, Mr. Shivakumar said that the BDA purchased the land from the government at Rs. 1.2 lakh.
But, the authority claimed that the land purchase cost was higher and was thus justifying the increase in the rates. The steep hike in cost was forcing many citizens to surrender their allotment. “The new rates are higher than those fixed by the private builders,” he alleged, stating that this has been done to push citizens to opt for flats built by private builders.
He urged the government to constitute a joint house committee to probe the issue.
