BDA allots alternate sites to 784 Arkavathy Layout allottees in NPKL

The Bangalore Development Authority (BDA) has finally allotted alternate sites to 784 allottees of Arkavathy Layout, who were not able to get possession of their sites as the lands on which they were, were denotified in the Re-Do scheme in July 2014 in the Nadaprabhu Kempegowda Layout (NPKL).

The BDA has notified 2,750 acres of land in 16 villages in 2004 to form the Arkavathy Layout, and sites were allotted in 2006. However, following several denotifications and litigations, the High Court framed a six-point guideline to drop land parcels from acquisition. In 2014, the BDA came out with a Re-Do scheme eventually dropping 983.33 acres, which is now being probed by the Justice K.N. Keshavanarayana Committee.

Allottees whose sites were in these lands that were dropped from the Arkavathy scheme have been running from pillar to post to get possession of their sites after paying up the full amount. Many have also been waging decade-long legal battles and paying property tax for sites they didn’t have for two decades.

Of them, 755 allottees and 29 revenue site owners of the Surabhi Seva Sangha Layout were allotted alternate sites in the NPKL through a computerised randomisation process by BDA Chairman N.A. Haris on Monday.

These allottees have to again pay registration fee and get the new sites allotted, the BDA sources said.

While the BDA officials claimed most of these 784 allottees had consented to take alternate sites in the NPKL, not all of them are happy. One of those who has been allotted an alternate site on Monday said that he was not going to accept an alternate site in the NPKL. “After paying the registration fee and stamp duty for the earlier site, paying property tax for two decades and waging a legal battle all these years, why should I take a site in far away NPKL paying registration fee that may run into lakhs again. There has been no proper denotification here and we want these lands to be acquired and our sites allotted. The BDA should at least allot us stray sites in the Arkavathy Layout not in the NPKL,” he said, wishing to be anonymous.

Meanwhile, 384 allottees have litigation pending and these petitions are clubbed before the Justice K.N. Keshava Narayana Commission and is yet to be decided.

2026 deadline for NPKL works

Meanwhile, days after the Real Estate Regulatory Authority, Karnataka (RERA-K) declared BDA a “promoter” and directed the agency to register Nadaprabhu Kempegowda Layout, BDA issued a public notice on November 11 promising to finish all developmental works in the Layout by 2026.

The BDA has claimed that development work in 2,800 acres (76%) in the NPKL has already been completed. “The remaining works, such as asphalting, street lighting, and cable laying in the already developed area, are intended to be completed by March, 2026,” the BDA said in its public notice.

The BDA is yet to get possession of 1,064 acres of land notified for the NPKL as it is still under litigation. “Development works in these lands will be done as and when the BDA gets possession, with completion intended by October 2026,” the BDA said.

Meanwhile, the BDA has committed to open the 11-km-long Major Arterial Road connecting Magadi Road and Bengaluru Mysuru Highway through the NPKL for the public in January 2026. It was supposed to be open by November 2025.

The NPKL site allottees have been demanding an up ramp and down ramp with full integration of the MAR with the Bengaluru Mysuru Highway to prevent traffic jams. Presently, they meet in a ‘T’ junction. Sources in the BDA said a full integration would be done when the Peripheral Ring Road Phase II is built and not immediately.

The BDA has also announced that it is conducting weekly progress review meetings of the NPKL works every Wednesday at 3 p.m. in the Board Room, and interested site allottees can attend these meetings by registering via the BDA helpline: 94831 66622.