BBMP

Campa Cola

Alpine Housing

Alpine Pyramid

burial ground

GENESIS OF THE TROUBLE

Bangalore Development Authority

BDA

Dr BR Ambedkar

Dr Babu Jagjivan Ram Youth Association

Karnataka Dalit Sangharsh Samiti

petitioners

M Lakshminarayana

For the first time ever,revokes building plan; 430 flat owners affectedIn what looks like the build -up to Bangalore’s own version of Mumbai’scompound controversy, the Bruhat Bangalore Mahanagara Palike (BBMP) last week withdrew the approved building plan ofDevelopment Corporation’sproject at Kodigehalli near Sahakaranagar in Bangalore North. The reason? The project spread over eight acres, advertised as seven residential towers of 11 floors each, is alleged to have encroached on two acres of reserved land.The eight-acre property is located under Survey No. 38 of Kodigehalli village and bears the Nos. 1554/209, 3, 4, 6, and 8.The alleged encroachment has three components — an acre of land earmarked for a dalit and tribal (SC/ST), another 30 guntas (75 cents) set aside for a playground, and 10 guntas (25 cents) reserved for a library.Alpine offers the apartments at upwards of Rs 1.1 crore each, in two- or three-bedroom configuration. With amenities of all flavours, Alpine Pyramid has gone the extra mile to lure buyers for the 430-plus apartments, of which around 180 are already occupied. Now BBMP’s withdrawal of sanctioned plan has brought the entire project to a standstill. In a communication to Bangalore Mirror, SA Kabeer, managing director of Alpine Housing, has said, "There is absolutely no encroachment and there is not even an allegation in the said order of any encroachment on the land reserved for SC& ST".Alpine Pyramid residents have denied any comparison between the two situations (their and Campa Cola). Sudeendra Koushik, president of the residents association, said: “We hope that it is not a bad situation like the Campa Cola one. We don’t know what constitutes the commons. We know the landowners and Alpine Housing, and we know that it is a clean deal. We hope nothing is really bad. Otherwise it will be a big problem for us. We have been staying here since three years and have been facing a few problems, but not of this kind. This is the first time we have heard such an issue regarding Alpine properties, but the same story was heard about the Rajiv Gandhi layout which is just opposite to our property.” The Campa Cola compound located at Worli, South Mumbai, hogged national attention after the Supreme Court declared all construction beyond five floors in each of the seven buildings in the plot as illegal, and ordered they be razed down. In November last year, the entire nation was shaken up by the high-voltage televised drama featuring the 230 families in the compound who resisted the BMC squad’s attempt to bulldoze their way into the compound. But after a last-ditch attempt by the residents to stave off eviction came a cropper in court recently, eviction proceedings are currently underway there.Koushik said, “Whatever information we are getting through media can be discussed with the builder once it is found valid. We will talk to the builder and see what course of action can be taken.”As per plan submissions made to BBMP by Alpine Housing, the building consists of two blocks. Of this, Block 1 consists of C, D, E, F, G, and H units, having ground plus 12 floors. Block 2 is a three-storey (ground plus two floors) clubhouse. For Block 2, Alpine Housing had approached BBMP with a modified building plan. This was approved on December 22, 2010, as the original building plan was sanctioned by) on March 30, 2007. The builder obtained partial occupancy certificate from BBMP for Block 1’s unit C and D on February 10, 2012.In February 2013, a dalit organisation (and) made a representation to BBMP’s Yelahanka zone joint commissioner claiming that Alpine Housing encroached on government land reserved for a burial ground, library and playground. On June 12, 2013, the Bangalore North tahsildar wrote to the urban deputy commissioner that a joint survey was conducted by officials from BBMP, survey, and revenue departments, which found that reserved land had been illegally occupied by a few people. It noted that the previous tahsildar had issued notices on March 5, 2012, to the encroachers to demolish the construction, to which they had replied that they would comply. But since a second inspection found the construction still intact, the North tahsildar put the ball in the çourt of BBMP and revenue officials to take action.Again on March 5, 2014, C S Raghu, working president of, made another complaint on the encroachment to Chowde Gowda, BBMP’s additional director (town planning). Following this complaint as well as the letter of the North tahsildar, Gowda issued a show cause notice to Alpine Housing on March 27, 2014, asking them to reply to the allegation. In his notice, Gowda noted that Alpine had hidden the information cited by thein their applications.Subsequently, the approved sanctioned plan was withdrawn on June 18, 2014, under the provisions of clause 40 of BBMP's plan approval riders which warn of cancellation in case of misrepresentation.BBMP commissionertold Bangalore Mirror, “The civic agency had received a complaint and a notice was also served to Alpine Housing. The builder failed to reply to a seven-day notice served during March 2014. They have violated the norms and encroached on government land. We have withdrawn the approved sanctioned plan.”Chowde Gowda said, “We will next write to our legal cell official, along with the order copy, to file a caveat in court. Separately, a letter will be written to the zonal joint commissioner and tahsildar to fix the boundaries for burial ground, library, and playground. Once the tahsildar marks the boundary, BBMP’s joint commissioner will take the property under its jurisdiction.”As per this, the onus is now on the tahsildar to mark the boundary for the encroached areas. Alpine Housing Development Corporation is a BSE and NSE listed company which had revenues of Rs 39.18 crore in financial year 2013-14.S A Kabeer, the managing director of Alpine Housing Development Corporation, has vehemently denied charges of encroachment. In his communication to Bangalore Mirror, he said: “Upon enquiries made by me with BBMP officials, I learnt that the order dated June 18, 2014, is passed on the ground/reason that we have not disclosed that the area opposite our property where ‘Alpine Pyramid’ is developed has been reserved for the benefit of the SC&ST community.“There is absolutely no encroachment and there is not even an allegation in the said order of any encroachment on the land reserved for SC&ST. Further, the property where Alpine Pyramid is developed has a proper, legal and valid title. Also, we have not furnished any false/incorrect/misleading information nor suppressed any fact to BBMP for the purpose of obtaining the sanction plan. In any event, the order dated June 18, 2014, is erroneous and we are taking all measures available to us for the purpose of safeguarding our interest as well the development carried out at Alpine Pyramid.”He went on to add that the company is in the process of bringing to BBMP’s notice all the necessary and relevant facts/information to enable them to consider the matter afresh. He also claimed that Alpine did not receive any notice from BBMP nor had an occasion to put forth the relevant/material facts for consideration by BBMP before the June 18 order was passed.