Bangalore Development Authority (BDA) on Thursday told the Karnataka High Court that it would permit ancillary use in residential properties, both in areas classified as residential (main) and residential (mix) in the Revised Master Plan (RMP) - 2015, only if the roads abutting the properties are 40 ft or more.
An oral statement in this regard was made by Senior Counsel D.N. Nanjunda Reddy on behalf of BDA during the hearing of public interest litigation petitions filed by Citizens’ Action Forum (CAF) and others in 2008. They had questioned RMP-2015 as it opened residential areas for use of commercial purposes.
Following this statement by the Senior Counsel, a Division Bench comprising Chief Justice D.H. Waghela and Justice B.V. Nagarathna asked the BDA to file an affidavit in this regard while adjourning further hearing to February 19.
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The BDA’s statement came after Aditya Sondhi, counsel for the petitioners, expressed concern over BDA’s proposal, submitted to the court last week, indicating that ancillary use would be permitted if abutting road width is 12 mt or more.
Mr. Sondhi pointed out that most roads in residential areas are 40 ft or below. The measurement in metres is extraneous to the measurement applied to road width, which is always in feet. He said that BDA should make it clear that road width should be above 40 ft as BDA’s 12-mt road width makes it only 39.37 ft on conversion.
He also objected to the BDA’s proposal to allow certain types of ancillary uses in residential areas situated in Ring-III (areas beyond Outer Ring Road) while pointing out that nature of ancillary permitted here as against in Ring-I and Ring-II (areas within ORR) would turn the residential areas in Ring-III into commercial areas.
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It was also stated on behalf of the petitioners that BDA has not indicated its intention to prevent commercial use in Mutation Corridors running through residential areas (both main and mixed).