The Mysuru Urban Development Authority (MUDA) has entered into an agreement with land owners for plot development under which the latter will receive 50 per cent of the developed plots in lieu of cash compensation.
This is expected to save the land acquisition cost for MUDA while the layout developments will not be embroiled in legal quagmire over compensation issues.
MUDA Chairman H.V. Rajiv told mediapersons here on Thursday that the landowners willing to surrender their land for plot development will receive an advance of ₹10 lakh as assurance. On implementation the land owners will 50 per cent of the developed site per acre. This works out about 9 developed plots of 30’x40’ dimension and they will be at liberty to sell it to anyone at the prevailing market rate. For MUDA this will eliminate the cost of land acquisition and it will be in a position to develop new layouts at a brisk pace, said Mr. Rajiv.
He said after the discussions sizeable landowners have agreed to the concept and MUDA was expecting about 700 acres of land to be earmarked for development under the 50:50 basis. The target is to create a landbank of at least 2,000 acres as there were 80,000 to 100,000 aspirants awaiting distribution of sites.
Though development of new layouts was high on the agenda of MUDA, the emphasis will be on multi-storeyed group housing schemes as the city cannot afford a horizontal sprawl to continue unabated, said Mr. Rajiv. The vertical growth model is the future but there will be individuals keen to own independent plots though they may be far away from the city and the MUDA will cater to them as well.
The MUDA tried to implement the 50:50 model at Balahalli where it proposed a satellite township but the farmers have put up a stiff resistance to the project on the grounds that not all were willing to quit agriculture and surrender their land. Also, the MUDA has issued a land acquisition notification which triggered unrest among the farmers that they would be forced to relinquish their land. Hence the MUDA has made it clear that the 50:50 model will be implemented only on their consent and there will be no forcible land acquisition.
The MUDA chairman also announced the constitution of a task force to prevent encroachment of its properties.
