A huge mall (Mantri ?) is supposedly coming up adjacent to the Agara lake (perhaps on the area marked 'encroachments Dec '08', seen by moving the cursor, here).
This is apart from the massive 15.64 acre PPP commercial cum EWS housing project coming up opposite the Games Village (NPS side), discussions pertaining to which may be accessed here.
And, added to all of these, is the Shantinagar Co-op House Building Society developments in the 62 acre land around the Nirgun Mandir area, in a non-transparent manner, about which the RWA's in the vicinity have raised their concerns (check here, for more)
All in all, Koramangala is going to be getting a lot more traffic, as if the existing scenario wasn't bad enough!
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| From Secy UD to BDA 16 Aug.doc | 103 KB |
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Encroachments!
Murali sir I was curious to see this in your blog above :-
" A huge mall (Mantri ?) is supposedly coming up adjacent to the Agara lake (perhaps on the area marked 'encroachments Dec '08', seen by moving the cursor, here). "
When I clickd I had to move around to figure out!
You dont have to move the cursor! Just Click here! Better still click here! LOL
What about stirling apartments Agara?
Similar issue [ Claiming of lake area by land fills ] in Varture lake. Lorries with mud for dumping come there in dark of night and dump earth on the lake water to make fresh dry land. Land Mafia at work!
many questions
Twenty two acres of valley land that connects Agara lake and Bellandur lake have been encroached upon and are being filled in preparation for construction.
The KIADB had allotted 63 acres and 37 guntas of land adjacent to the valley to Manipal ETA Infotech Ltd., a sister company of Century Group owned by Dayanand Pai. The company is preparing the land for construction. In the bargain, however, another 22 acres of the valley, land that was never allotted to the company, is also being filled up. At current market rates, these 22 acres would be worth over Rs. 600 crore.
For the full report in Propmart, click here.
Well, this raises a whole lot of new questions, for instance
a) if I understand correctly, this area was marked in green in the '95 Master Plan, as also in the draft 2015 Master Plan. But, when the finalised version of the 2015 Master Plan was released, it had got marked yellow. This is amongst the points raised in the PIL lodged by CAF.
b) KIADB as the name suggests is meant for providing land for industry. Do 'malls' come under the definition of industry?
c) An RTI query raised with the BDA evoked a response that they have not sanctioned any kind of development in the area. So, can a mall come up at this location just on the basis of a sanction by KIADB? In which case, what is the meaning of the BDA drawing up Master Plans, etc?
d) Don't we already have enough malls in the vicinity of Koramangala, for another one to come up on 63 acres + land?
e) And, was the controversial Sarjapur road signal-free corridor meant for taking shoppers from across the city speedily into the mall?
alarming and blatant!
This is an very upsetting development..few other questions arise..
Have there been any reliable survey done for the lake and the surrounding area at all?
If yes, is the permanent fencing available through out?
What is Lake Development Authority's stand on this?
Your team in Koramangala has done commendable job in trying to bring some order to the menace currently on all over bangalore..kindly request to take this up and save a lung space which this city desparately needs..I can also try talking to folks in HSR layout who can help..
Can we try to push for an
Can we try to push for an Govt Agency (BDA /BBMP / Lake development Authority) to conduct a survey of existing lakes in bangalore, and record and publish the GPS cordinates of the boundaries!
Google earth view might give the same information. But there is no official stamp on it, saying "this is the boundary"
documentary proof
Existing CDP-95 land-use map of the area, and letter addressed by Principal Sec, UDD, on 16th Aug, '05 to Commissioner, BDA, informing of the illegality of the goings on in the area, are attached to the original post.
documentary proof
murli,
any idea when the deccan choniclenews relaease on this came out and who covered the strory.We have to get that reporter back on the track.
anyone knows.?or at least the date on which th estory came out?
vmenon
A lot more info
1) "bangalorerealtyspeculaion.blogspot.com" report
A massive large sized Mixed Use Development Project/Complex of Total Project Cost of 2347 Crores is to come up at Agara Village & Jakkasandra Village, Begur Hobli, Bangalore South by Manipal ETA Infotech Ltd. A humungous Parking facility for 14,438 cars parking is proposed in the complex.
Full report may be accessed @ http://bangalorerealityspeculation.blogspot.in/2012/06/massive-large-sized-mixed-use.html
2) Minutes of the 49th meeting of the SEZ Board of Approval held on 28th November 2011 to consider proposals for setting up Special Economic Zones and other miscellaneous proposals - http://www.sezindia.nic.in/writereaddata/BOA/BOA_49th_minutes.pdf
3) Proceedings of the KSPCB consent committee dt 18/ 11/ 11 - http://kspcb.org/CFE/CFE%20&%20CFO-18.11.11.pdf
Concerns, and unfortunate mind-sets
Some recent comments on the above from concerned citizens:
a) Classification of this land is shown as protected in the draft CDP of 2105. In the 1995 CDP it is shown as green, whether private or not. The land use is green, and it no where says 'private', although we know it is privately held. It is legitimate to question why has the land use changed from 'green' in 1995 to 'protected' in draft 2015 and to something else in the final CDP. And where does Industry or SEZ come in?
b) Consider the severe ramifications if such activities are allowed to happen in sensitive areas and other areas where builders have been allowed to develop land and are putting up huge apartment conglomerates without BDA first putting in place infrastructure. And, there are so many of them, across the city, apart from the mall proposed here. None of these has proper approach roads developed to take additional traffic or even essential services like Fire and Ambulance. And now comes KIADB in the picture. Industrial activity/SEZ, since converted into commercial activity by KIADB(??) in the middle of Bangalore and that too in a sensitive area? Folks I think there ought to be a fight at a wider level too- town planning and governance, in addition to this Mall affair.
Civil Society groups have repeatedly stated that they are not opposed to development per se, but opposed to development in the wrong direction. Instead of engaging them in debates to arrive at a consensus on the overall direction, and then going about implementation, when the powers that be instead choose to pursue their set ideas surreptitiously is when things go wrong, like it happened in the Sarjapur signal-free corridor case. One wonders when if at all they will see the writings on the wall.
preservation of properties in valley zones
In an interesting case, the Karnataka high court has directed the state government and Bangalore Development Authority (BDA) to process applications filed by a city-based real estate developer P Dayananda Pai and Manipal Academy of Higher Education for grant of sanction plan without reference to Master Plan 2015.
Justice Anand Byrareddy observed that their applications for proposed development in 23 acres and 7 gunta of land in Amanikere, Yelahanka, should be treated as 'non-conforming use', as contemplated in Master Plan 2015.
"The state may not, however, be precluded from acquiring the property in question to preserve the same as a valley zone, in the larger public interest. But, petitioners cannot be deprived of their right to utilize the property as intended," the judge observed and also quashed the endorsement issued by BDA in May, 2007.
For the full report in the ToI, click here.
A very similar case as pertaining to this blog, and involving the same two-some. Shouldn't the government be taking the required steps to preserve both the properties coming in valley zones?
water - the bigger issue
Following is an interesting comment by an opinion leader in the SaveKoramangala Y-group:
Here is an extract from the report by State Environmental Impact Assessment Authority on what is coming up on ONE PORTION of land opposite the Agara Lake:
Please read the total water requirement carefully. It is 4587 Kilo Litres per day. That is 4.587 million litres every single day (MLD). After the implementation of the Cauvery Stage IV, Phase II, which is in progress, the quantum of water that will be pumped into Bangalore from Cauvery will be 1310 MLD. Of this, about 40% disappears as unaccounted for loss, leaving a balance of around 800 MLD. Out of this, BWSSB is now supposed to supply 4.6 MLD to this new complex, though they haven't even applied for an NOC as yet. Instead by taking a Single-window clearance from the Government, they have directly bypassed this step.
If the project is built, it is a simple calculation -- thanks to the clout of Manipal ETA, they will get their 4.6 MLD, and all of Koramangala, HSR and surrounding areas will be reduced to a desert.
I think this is the single most important reason to oppose this project, apart from of course the traffic angle.