Six months breather for land owners

A vacant land in Paikarapur. Picture by Sanjib Mukherjee

Bhubaneswar, March 26: The development authorities have sounded the warning note to owners of plots and core houses - build your homes in the next six months or lose allotment.

The decision was taken yesterday at a meeting of Bhubaneswar Development Authority officials chaired by housing and urban development minister Pushpendra Singh Deo.

The decision is important in the wake of a controversy over the government's allotment policy and discretionary quota.

"Many plot and core house owners are not using their property thus defeating the basic purpose of allotment. Hence, the decision of the authority is important and will help many people who are unable to get a house or a plot under different government schemes in the city," said senior administrative officer-cum-public relations officer of the development authority Madhumita Rath.

Master Apollo, a resident of Kalinga Vihar, said: "Many plots along with core houses in Kalinga Vihar are lying unused and have become a den for criminals."

"Not only Kalinga Vihar, but many such land and houses in Pokhariput, Palaspalli and a few allotted by the general administration department in Nayapalli are lying unused. Plots given under other schemes, which have not been used, should also come under scanner," said Banibrat Tripathy, a resident of Nayapalli.

Two draft regulations - BDA Estate (management and allotment) Regulation-2015 and BDA Land (disposal and allotment) Regulation-2015 - dealing with allotment and use of plots and core houses were also taken up for discussion.

Once the government approves the regulations, suggestions will be invited from the public.

The meeting also empowered the BDA to use its power under Section-23(1) of the Odisha Development Authority Act, 1982, to adopt town-planning scheme (TPS) for 745 acres under revenue zones - Paikarapur, Sijiput, Naragoda and Sahajpur.

Under the scheme, infrastructure such as roads, parks, play area, markets, bus corridors will be developed by taking plots from the land owners.

This new method will not only help the owners, but also ensure that there is a return for their contribution.

The government will then ensure all round development of the area. The developed land will fetch him nearly 20 to 30 times more than the original land price as it will come up with all modern amenities. In this method, a monetary transaction is not needed, but both the sides get the benefits. The scheme is already popular in states such as Gujarat and Maharashtra.

The meeting also approved a BDA proposal to construct 2,880 affordable houses in two phases with pre-cast concrete technology over an area of 20.85 acres near Kanyashram at Niladri Vihar in Patia. The buildings will be for the economically weaker sections.