<p>The Karnataka government’s decision to have a single valid khata type within BBMP limits should come as a relief to property owners, especially the estimated six lakh who have been given a type of khata that is not legally valid but was devised only to allow BBMP to collect property tax from them. This latter khata type came into being after 2007 when the erstwhile Bangalore City Corporation was made into the BBMP, bringing over one hundred villages on the periphery into its limits. Many residential layouts in these newly merged areas were carved out of revenue lands or generally did not conform to BBMP bylaws and were deemed illegal or unauthorised. But the civic body opened a separate ‘B register’ to record the collection of property tax from properties in these layouts. These came to be known as ‘B khata’ properties, different from legally recognised properties that were given ‘A’ khata and issued a Property Identification (PID) number. A ‘B’ khata-holder faces drawbacks -- banks refuse to give loans, and the BBMP won’t sanction building plans on these properties. This explains the real estate and urban mess in the newly formed areas. All these properties are now set to become legal and will be issued ‘A’ khata. The BBMP expects to collect a revenue of Rs 1,000 crore from this move.</p>.<p>Yet, lakhs of houses, and even apartments and commercial buildings, have already come up on these sites, many without BBMP approvals, others with approvals obtained by underhand means. It is also seen that most, if not all, of these buildings have been built in violation of building bylaws. The government and the BBMP will have to think and decide on how to deal with these violations. Had the BBMP issued valid khata and begun regulating the development of these layouts over a decade ago, it could have prevented them from becoming the ugly mess they are today. If lakhs of buildings have been built without approvals, with officials choosing to look away, one can imagine the scale of bribery and corruption that has gone into making the city the eyesore it currently is.</p>.<p>While the khata-for-all move may come as a boon to the ordinary citizen aspiring to have a roof over her head, allowing the property market in these areas to exist in the grey area for so long has encouraged and benefitted another undesirable phenomenon – the land mafia. With more villages set to be brought under BBMP limits in the future, the government and the civic body must ensure that the ‘B’ khata mess is not repeated.</p>
<p>The Karnataka government’s decision to have a single valid khata type within BBMP limits should come as a relief to property owners, especially the estimated six lakh who have been given a type of khata that is not legally valid but was devised only to allow BBMP to collect property tax from them. This latter khata type came into being after 2007 when the erstwhile Bangalore City Corporation was made into the BBMP, bringing over one hundred villages on the periphery into its limits. Many residential layouts in these newly merged areas were carved out of revenue lands or generally did not conform to BBMP bylaws and were deemed illegal or unauthorised. But the civic body opened a separate ‘B register’ to record the collection of property tax from properties in these layouts. These came to be known as ‘B khata’ properties, different from legally recognised properties that were given ‘A’ khata and issued a Property Identification (PID) number. A ‘B’ khata-holder faces drawbacks -- banks refuse to give loans, and the BBMP won’t sanction building plans on these properties. This explains the real estate and urban mess in the newly formed areas. All these properties are now set to become legal and will be issued ‘A’ khata. The BBMP expects to collect a revenue of Rs 1,000 crore from this move.</p>.<p>Yet, lakhs of houses, and even apartments and commercial buildings, have already come up on these sites, many without BBMP approvals, others with approvals obtained by underhand means. It is also seen that most, if not all, of these buildings have been built in violation of building bylaws. The government and the BBMP will have to think and decide on how to deal with these violations. Had the BBMP issued valid khata and begun regulating the development of these layouts over a decade ago, it could have prevented them from becoming the ugly mess they are today. If lakhs of buildings have been built without approvals, with officials choosing to look away, one can imagine the scale of bribery and corruption that has gone into making the city the eyesore it currently is.</p>.<p>While the khata-for-all move may come as a boon to the ordinary citizen aspiring to have a roof over her head, allowing the property market in these areas to exist in the grey area for so long has encouraged and benefitted another undesirable phenomenon – the land mafia. With more villages set to be brought under BBMP limits in the future, the government and the civic body must ensure that the ‘B’ khata mess is not repeated.</p>