TDR not meant to take away ownership of land
The concept of Transferable Development Rights (TDR) by the BBMP is completely wrong. TDR is never meant to take away the ownership of land from the original owner. The BBMP is misusing TDR for taking away ownership for such purposes like widening of roads, construction of flyovers, etc.
Ram S Ramanathan, Business Consultant, who is currently engaged in citizen involvement in local governance and a resident of Koramangala. In an interview to Dainik Jagran Cityplus, he says that the TDR helps in urban planning so that development of city can be regulated. But the use of this tool by the BBMP is completely wrong.
TDR is tool that preserves farming areas, forested areas, heritage areas etc by allowing its owners to give up their rights to develop these spaces commercially in lieu of TDR. The sellers continue to do what they have been doing with their land, while at the same time monetarily benefiting by giving up developmental rights. The buyers of such TDR can benefit by being allowed to build beyond what normal zoning regulations permit.
But the amendment of Section 14B of the Town and Country Planning Act, 2005, and introduction of TDR in the State is entirely on the wrong path where if the Planning Authority or Local Authority wants to widen an existing road, form a new road, provide parks, playgrounds and open spaces or any other civic amenities, they can acquire land demarcated for these purposes from the owner for free and in exchange give the owner “development rights in the form of additional floor area, equal to one and a half times of the area of land surrendered.”
For instance, even if a shop is demolished for road widening and the owner is compensated according to the value of the land, how will the authority compensate his/her livelihood which has been there for decades or generations?
TDR is not new and it is an instrument that was first devised in 1916 at New York City as part of the first zoning ordinance. Soon many other countries adopted this system to plan urban development. Here it allowed landowners, who had not used their airspace to build skyscrapers, to sell their unused rights to others in the block, so that these buyer builders could exceed height and setback requirements. Don’t build a skyscraper; get rich instead, they were told. However in BBMP case it is other way.
Source:
Bangalore, BBMP Bangalore, Properties can’t be taken forcibly under TDR, TDR, TDR real estate, Transferable Development Rights
