Housing construction ban: Assn terms Karna plan unrealistic

Bengaluru: A leading real estate developers association Friday termed as “unrealistic” the Karnataka government’s plan to impose a five year ban on construction of multi-storeyed residential buildings in the city in view of the acute water crisis.

Reacting to the governments’ intention, the chairman of Confederation of Real Estate Developers Association of India (CREDAI), Bengaluru chapter, Suresh Hari said it was unrealistic “because it will bring development to a grinding halt.”

“Not only 10 lakh labourers will lose jobs and the whole industry will suffer but also the government will incur huge loss,” he said.

The CREDAI president advised the government to conserve water by reviving lakes, desilting water bodies, recharge groundwater and launch awareness campaigns on judicious use of water.

However, the ‘Peoples Campaign for Right to Water’ (PCRW) welcomed the decision, saying government was moving in the right direction.

PCRW convener Kshitij Urs said “Last two decades have been detrimental to Bengaluru growth, which was unprecendented and unregulated. Sutainability was not the agenda. We are going from one crisis to another.

He said the water crisis in Chennai in neighbouring Tamil Nadu was a wake-up call.

There should be new water body creation and not just rejuvenation of older ones, he added.

Deputy Chief Minister G Parameshwara had said on Thursday that the state government was contemplating a five-year ban on construction of multi-storeyed residential buildings in view of the acute water crisis.

“Due to water scarcity, most of the apartment dwellers are dependent on water supplied through water tankers. This is resulting in waterborne and skin diseases.

Hence, deliberations are going on to ban the construction of apartments in Bengaluru for the next five years,” he said.