The State government was discomfited before the Karnataka High Court as the Bangalore Development Authority (BDA) said that it had not suggested some of the changes made in the zoning regulations of the city’s master plan, but they were solely brought in by the State.
A submission in this regard was made by the BDA's counsel during the hearing of a PIL petition, filed by Namma Bengaluru Foundation, which has questioned the Zonal Regulations of Bangalore, of the Revised Master Plan-2015 (Amendment) Regulations-2014.
Senior Counsel D.N. Nanjunda Reddy, appearing for the BDA, said that the authority had sent the recommendations for changing zoning certain regulations, as was undertaken before the High Court in another case earlier, and some of the changes introduced in the amended regulations were not recommended by the BDA.
The BDA also clarified to the court that it had not approved any development or construction plan as per the amended regulations.
Following this, a Division Bench comprising Chief Justice D.H. Waghela and Justice Ram Mohan Reddy asked the government counsel to clarify the stand of the State on the amended regulations, which came into force from December 11, 2014. “Do you [State] want to defend it or withdraw it, tell us by next date of hearing,” the Bench said while adjourning hearing to February 23.
Meanwhile, the Bench also directed the Commissioner of the Bruhat Bangalore Mahanagara Palike (BBMP) to personally present the details on whether any plan was approved based on the amended regulations, as BBMP's counsel could not submit such detail as was sought by the court during the last hearing.
The amended regulations permit ancillary use of residential properties if width of the road is 12 mts (or 39.14 feet) as against the undertaking given to the court that no ancillary use would be permitted if the road width is less than 40 feet, the petition claims while alleging that some other changes were made due to "pressure from real estate lobbies."
