BANGALORE: The BBMP which has no funds to carry out development works has leased out properties worth crores of rupees spread across prime locations in the city for peanuts.Properties at prime areas have been leased out to private individuals, clubs, organisations and other parties for a period of almost 100 years for a meagre sum.BBMP’s Property Monitoring and Protection Committee has stated that the civic body has leased out 394 properties. Among them, the lease period of 208 properties has been expired. The lease is in force for only 186 properties. Also, there are over 140 properties which do not have proper documentation. However, the properties which have outlived their leases could be procured under the Karnataka Public Premises (KPP) Act, the panel said. Interestingly, the BBMP has leased out properties worth crores of rupees for just 50 paisa per annum. The BBMP records available with Express show that in the East Zone, a private school on 3.43 acres of land, on Asai Road in Domlur sub-division is leased out in 1949 for 50 paisa a year. Lands measuring between 360 sqft and 800 sqft in Ulsoor were leased out for residential purposes for 11 months in the mid-1970s. But the BBMP has not yet bothered to recover the lands till date. Glaring violationsIn some cases, the lessees have sub-leased the property for a higher value. A 3,000-square yard property leased out for a meagre Rs 100 for 99 years in 1976 on the Miller’s Tank Bund Road, has now been sub-leased for Rs 28 lakh as rent and Rs 4 crore as advance to a third party. A property on Victoria Road, leased out for 99 years, also has a similar story. There are hospitals on BBMP properties which are making crores instead of doing charity work. These hospitals pay only Rs 250 per month as lease amount and make money by opening nursing schools, renting out space to hotels, shops and other establishments. The parties who have taken the property for lease have sub-leased the property to the third parties and taking the property for sports activities and social purpose and later using them for commercial purpose is happening in most of the cases. Through this, most of the lessees/tenants are violating rules. The lease rates for a majority of these properties have been fixed more than a decade ago. If it is revised according to present rates, the BBMP can earn around Rs 200 crore from rent alone. This way, the tax burden on people can be reduced and more development projects can be taken up. Meanwhile, the final report of the BBMP’s Property Monitoring and Protection Committee submitted a year ago is gathering dust.
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