Final notification on Akrama-Sakrama soon

Scheme will enable regularisation of building bylaw and land use violations in urban areas

The State government will soon issue a notification on implementing the Akrama-Sakrama scheme that will enable regularisation of building bylaw and land use violations in urban areas.

After a high-level meeting with Ministers and officials on Tuesday, Chief Minister Siddaramaiah is said to have approved the much-awaited Karnataka Town and Country Planning (Regularisation of Unauthorised Developments) Rules 2013.

Sources in the Chief Minister’s office said the final notification was likely to be issued within this week, after which the scheme would come into effect. The draft notification of the rules was issued on December 31, 2013.

Sources said the government had revised the cut-off date from December 2, 2009 to October 19, 2013 for unauthorised properties to be eligible for regularisation.

Under the scheme, violations pertaining to setback, floor area ratio (FAR), non-conversion of agricultural land, and formation of unauthorised layouts and sites under urban local bodies, including the Bruhat Bangalore Mahanagara Palike (BBMP), are eligible for regularisation.

The scheme seeks to regularise up to 50 per cent violation of setback norms and permissible FAR in residential buildings and up to 25 per cent in non-residential buildings. Any violation above this would attract demolition.

According to officials in the Urban Development Department, lakhs of properties could be regularised under the scheme in the eight municipal corporations governed under the Karnataka Municipal Corporations (KMC) Act, 1976, 44 city municipal councils, 94 town municipal councils, 68 town panchayats and six notified area committees governed by the Karnataka Municipalities Act, 1964.

Officials said the government was expecting revenue of nearly Rs. 32,000 crore through this scheme. The money would be used for the development of the respective urban local bodies.

Fee structure

According to the draft rules, a copy of which is with The Hindu , violations up to 25 per cent in residential buildings will attract a fee of 6 per cent of the total guidance value of the property (either land or built-up area). For violations between 25 and 50 per cent, a fee of 8 per cent of the guidance value has been fixed.

For non-residential buildings, regularisation charges will be 20 per cent of the guidance value for less than 12.5 per cent violation and 35 per cent for violations between 12.5 per cent and 25 per cent.

At the Tuesday’s meeting, Town and Country Planning Director S.B. Honnur made a presentation on the scheme to the Chief Minister and Ministers Vinay Kumar Sorake, V. Srinivas Prasad, T.B. Jayachandra and K.J. George, and Advocate-General Ravivarma Kumar.