BDA allots 947 1BHK flats, applicants cry foul

BDA's flat allotment has always drawn resentment from those who applied for it. The recent allotment was no different.

Suresh, an employee of a private firm, waited patiently at the Bangalore Development Authority (BDA) premises, for his name to announced in the flat allotment list. He had applied for a one bedroom flat in Kaniminike, as he trusted the BDA, and was wary of going through any middlemen to purchase a house. He was one among the hundreds who waited with bated breath to see if they would be lucky, in flat allotment that took place on November 27th 2014.

In its 4th notification dated February 28th 2014, the BDA called for applications for 4,228 flats (1BHK EWS category – 1,418, 1BHK General category – 1,418, 2BHK – 1,008 and 3BHK – 384) in the following areas: Alur, Doddabanahalli, Gunjur, Kaniminike, Malagala, Thippasandra and Valagerahalli. On November 27th, 947 one-bedroom flats were allotted through a draw of lots at the BDA premises in Kumara Park West for those who had applied in the 4th notification.  


Applicants wait in the hope that they are assigned a flat. Pic: Ganga Madappa

While the notification was for 1,418 flats each in the General and EWS categories, BDA had received applications from 355 and 1,265 citizens for each of the categories respectively. Of this, 66 applicants in the general category, and 315 in the EWS category were considered ineligible.

 

Area

General category

  

EWS category

  

Eligible

Ineligible

Total received

Eligible

Ineligible

Total received

Alur

35

5

40

144

27

171

Doddabanhalli

15

6

21

41

9

50

Gunjur

54

19

73

138

51

189

Kaniminike

25

9

34

80

26

106

Malagala

60

11

71

210

68

278

Thippasandra

36

4

40

86

45

131

Valgerahalli

53

9

62

227

65

292

No preference

11

3

14

27

24

51

Total

289

66

355

953

315

1,268

 

People smell foul play in allotment process

Like in the case of previous allotments, flats were being assigned to eligible applicants by a draw of lots. The BDA had already drawn a list of applicants and it was the flat numbers that were being assigned by lottery. On enquiring about the criteria by which this list was drawn up, BDA Public Relations Officer, Dr K Puttaswamy stated that people were chosen as per the criteria listed in the BDA (Allotment of sites) Rules 1984on the basis of seniority with respect to number of application attempts, then by age, and in case there were candidates where the application attempts and the age were the same, based on date of application.

However, there were several people questioning the process, stating that it was not transparent enough.


Flat numbers being alloted to applicants in real time, as lots were picked. The rolling drum can be seen onstage. Pic: Ganga Madappa

Chips that had the flat numbers were picked up from a rolling drum and assigned to applicants. Every time a lot was picked, a powerpoint presentation was being updated in real time. BDA said they would put up the list of allottees with their relevant flat numbers, once all the allotments were done.

Vijayakumar, an auto driver, suspected foul play in the process by which the names of applicants who were allotted flats were drawn up. He said, “If BDA is stating that they are drawing lots, how have they come up with the list of names in advance?” He then proceeded to call a local television channel to record the goings on.

Citizens Matters tried reaching the BDA Chairman, S K Patnaik and the Commissioner, Sham Bhatt for clarification on the process by which the list of applicants were drawn prior to the lottery, but we are yet to hear from them.

There were also cases where applicants had applied under a particular category, but had been assigned flats under another. When this was brought to the attention of the PRO, he stated that these were in all likelihood typos and could be rectified.

‘BDA not transparent enough, not tech-savvy’

Several people who found themselves on the ineligible list claimed to have applied as per the BDA norms, and questioned the reason for their ineligibility. K Puttaswamy, Public Relations Officer said that incomplete applications and those not having the necessary documents were not considered for the allotment. While there was no way to clarify reasons for ineligibility on the day of the allotment, a source from BDA stated that if people would like to find out the reasons for which their application was not considered, they could meet the Deputy Secretary 1 or the Public Relations Officer between 3 pm to 5.30 pm on weekdays.

There were a few applicants whose names did not feature on either the eligible or ineligible list. Sashidhar, a school master from Koramangala had applied for a flat in Malagala. He was one of those few whose names did not feature on any list. He says, “I asked the people at the help desk and they could not give me a reason.”



BDA officials manually search for names of eligible applicants. Pic: Ganga Madappa

He also pointed out the tedious manner in which people had to check if they were eligible. BDA officials were seated across two help desks with sheets of paper that contained the names of the people, sorted according to the areas where the flats were being built. Sashidhar said, “The officials and the applicants had to go through the sheets manually to find their names on the list. It was really time-consuming. How difficult would it have been for the BDA to have done the same on an excel sheet and do a search for the name instead? It would have not only been faster, but also convenient for both BDA and the applicants.”

Ramesh, a network support engineer, was yet another person who was considered ineligible. He said, “Many of us have taken the day off from work. Though we might wait here the entire day, there is no chance of knowing whether we will be assigned a flat or not.” Sashidhar added, “Considering that the BDA has the contact information of all applicants, and has collected a sizeable amount as deposit, it could have sent us a letter by post or an email to inform us about the status of our application and whether we would be considered for the allotment. It is quite disheartening that we have travelled so far, only to be sent back without a flat or any information.”

Work in Gunjur stopped, contractor to be fined

D Shankar, who is the proprietor of a dry cleaning business, currently resides in HSR Layout. He was assigned a flat in Alur. While he was certainly happy, he said, “I had asked for one in Gunjur or Thippasandra with the intention of living there with my family, but have been assigned one in Alur. This flat is more than 50 km from my workplace. That does not work for me at all.” He then added, “If I am not able to exchange the flat with someone in my preferred location, I will have no choice but to relinquish the allotment.”

Shankar also added that he had visited the site of construction in Gunjur and Thippasandra. While the construction in Thippasandra seemed to be underway without any hitches, he said that construction in Gunjur seemed to be on hold and it was likely that it would take at least two more years.

Regarding the status of construction, Gowdaiah N G, BDA Engineer Officer, said, “Some flats are completed and ready to occupy. Some others are likely to take a couple more months. There is a delay in construction in Gunjur, because of a problem with the contractor – he is likely to be penalised.” He also added that the BDA might have to consider assigning the work in Gunjur to another contractor if the work does not resume.

Allotment for 2BHK and 3BHK flats in a few months

There were several people who were also unclear about the payment process and loans available. Gowdaiah said that BDA had signed an agreement with several banks including Indian Overseas Bank, Canara Bank and State Bank of Mysore, and those who looking to avail loans, especially in the EWS category, could get in touch with these banks and would be given loans without too much hassle.

Gowdaiah also stated that the allotment for the applicants of the 2BHK and 3BHK flats from the 4th notification would happen in a couple of months. He added that the BDA was likely to issue yet another notification calling for applications once the allotment was done.

Regarding the eligible applicants who are yet to be allotted flats from prior notifications, Gowdaiah stated that while there were no other 1BHK applicants to be allotted, about 50 and 300 applicants from prior notifications were yet to be allotted a flat. He also added that around 600 and 700 applicants for 2BHK and 3BHK flats from the 3rd notification had been refunded their initial deposits.


Addendum (as on December 5th 2014)

– List of 1BHK allottees – General category

– List of 1BHK allottees – EWS category

Related Articles

BDA site? Yes. BDA flat? No, no!
How to apply for a BDA flat in Bengaluru?
BDA allots flats; Quality fine, but not location

Comments:

  1. Thanabal says:

    Where were you madam? you made us wait for long, but once again stroked a six. Thanks. As you mentioned, as a eligible customer still am facing problem in finding information. I feel this time BDA has improved much in bringing in transparency. but has go miles as like DDA. hoping for the best of BDA.

    Alur Status:

    Plus:
    1, Construction are 90% completed, 2, 600 flats looks like a colony, 3, Nice ventilation, 4, Spacious corridor, steps, Road (one no need to avail parking slot), 5, Good Water source as many lakes around

    Minus: 1, 328 carpet area very very small, 2, 3km from Tumkur main Road, there is no need of flat system there as plenty of land vacant for individual housing project, 3, Improper approach road, no street light, very less bus service 4, Schools should be far away, 5, For basic daily needs you may bring it from Tumkur Road, 6, No loft in bedroom/kitchen/bathroom.

    Nut shell: Lack of city atmosphere. May be worth to invest for about 9L not 13L

  2. Vishwas says:

    The BDA must get out of the layout and flat building business. All they have achieved is to create a massive lottery scheme where the outcome is fixed by other methods. This is not communist China for a government body to build substandard housing and badly planned neighbourhoods. Let the private sector take up layout development and flat construction. Subsidizing a few people, who do not necessarily deserve the handout us a waste if public resources. The BDA is also denying farmers of a fair compensation by forcefully taking their lands for housing development. The private sector and the open market are much fairer to them. BDA should focus on building Bangalore’s infrastructure. BDA should also work on regulating the private sector land developers and ensure that their layouts meet standards.

  3. Mallikarjun says:

    Could some one update on 2-3 BHK allotment.

  4. Pushpam says:

    2-3 bhk flat allotment for 4th notification is not done even after 1 year. No information is being provided. their web site is good for nothing and they are diconnecting the call if you enquire about it.
    Did anyone from 2nd and 3rd notification get th possession of their fats?

    Has anyone visited the site in doddabannahalli. Can you provide the status of constructions.

  5. mallikarjuna k says:

    Very poor quality at Halagevaderahalli 2BHK flats (SARASWATI BLOCKS),as most of the flats are leaking even before they are occupied.I think BDA officials and builders M/s HOMBALE CONSTRUCTIONS are playing with the lives of the middle class people, who have purchased with the loans or the hard earned money.

  6. Anand D says:

    Dear Madam,

    what about gunjur flat 1 BHK. It pending for long time. We borrowed loan paid to BDA EMD and part amount. till date flat construction completed. previous contractor black listed. Now, who is continuing the construtin. When it complete. Kindly update the status or more info.

Leave a Reply

Your email address will not be published. Required fields are marked *

This site uses Akismet to reduce spam. Learn how your comment data is processed.

Similar Story

Aarey colony has not been taken seriously by any government: Incumbent MP Gajanan Kirtikar

Gajanan Kirtikar, who joined hands with Eknath Shinde, says that SRA schemes should be allowed for Aarey residents to save the forest.

As India gets ready to vote to decide who will represent them in Parliament, Citizen Matters is speaking to elected Parliamentary representatives from Mumbai. We will ask them about the work they have done for the city, policies they have supported and why Mumbaikars should cast votes in their favour (or of their political parties). As part of this series, we spoke to Gajanan Kirtikar, who represented Mumbai North West for the past two terms. He is an active Parliamentarian who was one of top 10 MPs who asked the maximum number of questions during their tenure, according to a report…

Similar Story

Lok Sabha 2024: Know your MP — Gajanan Kirtikar, Mumbai North West

After long innings in politics, Gajanan Kirtikar faces the challenge of his son staying with Uddhav Thackeray's Shiv Sena in 2024 elections.

Name: Gajanan Kirtikar  Constituency: Mumbai North West Gajanan Kirtikar, 80 is an old hand in Maharashtra politics and has risen up the ranks of his party. He has always been with the Shiv Sena, having been part of the core team of Bal Thackeray, subsequently working under Uddhav Thackeray. He chose to move to the Shiv Sena faction led by present chief minister Eknath Shinde.  He served as a legislator for four terms between 1990 to 2009 and then entered the Parliament for two terms from 2014. He also served as the minister of state for home and tourism and…