Mayor to form committee to probe scam
Several revenue sites that have not been converted have been given ‘A’ khata by Bruhat Bangalore Mahanagara Palike (BBMP) officials, flouting all norms, according to Kacharakanahalli councillor Padmanabha Reddy.
Mr. Reddy produced documents pertaining to a revenue site in Govindarajanagar that had been given an ‘A’ khata here during the council meeting on Wednesday.
“The officials are issuing ‘A’ khata by accepting bribe. The quantum of bribe is based on the dimension of the site. If this continues, there will be no more revenue sites left to be regularised under the Akrama Sakrama scheme in the city,” he added.
Following this, several councillors urged the BBMP Commissioner to issue ‘A’ khata to all revenue sites across the city.
BBMP’s Deputy Commissioner (Revenue), I. Ramakanth ,said that cannot be done as it would violate Akrama Sakrama scheme that is likely to be implemented soon. At present, BBMP can collect betterment fee from owners of converted bulk land and not revenue sites.
Mayor B.S. Sathyanarayana said he would form a committee to look into the scam. He said the committee with councillors from Bharatiya Janata Party, Congress and Janata Dal (Secular) will be headed by Joint Commissioner (Administration) B.B. Cauvery.
Stringent action
The committee will be given a deadline to probe the issue and submit its report, besides recommending action against erring officials. The revenue properties with A khata will be brought under the purview of Akrama Sakrama, he added.
Earlier, the council approved the proposal to collect the betterment fees in three instalments with a 10 per cent interest per annum.
As per its earlier resolution, the betterment fee is fixed at Rs. 200 per sq.m. for bulk converted land in core areas, and Rs. 250 per sq.m. in newly added areas.
