MCC council decides to purchase 9.16 acres near Bondel from real estate developer by offering TDR

MCC council decides to purchase 9.16 acres near Bondel from real estate developer by offering TDR

Mangalore Today News Network

Mangaluru, July 26, 2024: Mangaluru City Corporation council in its meeting on Thursday decided to purchase 9.16 acres of private land near Bondel from a real estate developer by offering him transferable development rights (TDR).

While two councillors from the Congress opposed the decision stating that the land was not suitable for any project, Mayor Sudheer Shetty Kannur defended the decision and said the land was required to build houses for the poor.

The Congress councillors – Abdul Rauf from Milagres ward (No. 47) and Adul Latheef from port ward (No. 45) – repeatedly asked the Mayor why the corporation wanted to purchase the same land which was once rejected by the council.

The council had wanted to purchase the same land for an IT park. Later, the move was put in the cold storage as the council was not in favour of purchasing the same land.

The councillors said that the topography of the land was not suitable to build houses for the poor and hence the corporation should drop the plan. If the corporation bought it, it would be a futile exercise, they said.

Other senior councillors of the Congress, including Leader of the Opposition T. Praveenchandra Alva, did not oppose the move.

The Mayor told the council that the earlier move was rejected because there was no provision in the law to purchase the land for building an IT park by offering TDR.

He said that at an earlier meeting in Mangaluru, Minister for Urban Development and Town Planning B.S. Suresha had instructed the corporation to purchase private land by offering TDR for building houses for the poor.

About 4,000 poor persons in the city require houses now and as the corporation is facing a dearth of government land, it is ready to purchase private land by offering TDR. With this, the civic body need not spend any money for purchasing the land.

Meanwhile, sources in the corporation told The Hindu that even if the civic body purchased the land it needs to make huge investment for getting it ready for building either individual houses or a apartment complex. The land is in a slope which makes it not ideal for a housing project.