To shore up revenue, Palike to recover leased properties

BENGALURU: Feeling the pinch on its finances amid the pandemic, the Bruhat Bengaluru Mahanagara Palike (BBMP) has taken up aggressive surveys and officials are perusing record books to recover properties whose lease has expired.

“There is a need to recover the properties as the corporation needs revenue and the buildings for other works. We need more office spaces and we cannot be using other spaces when we have our own,” an official explained.

Officials are also apprehensive as private persons are reluctant to vacate buildings leased out to them. “Thus, a detailed survey is being done to know the status of each so that steps to be taken are chalked out better,” the official said.Earlier, when there was a council and the administration was under the head-office, the records were all set right. Now, since it has been decentralised to zones, there is no single database and there is a lot if disparity. This is only affecting the BBMP accounts, the official pointed out. 

According to the records, of the 6,815 BBMP properties in the city, 324 were leased out. Of these, 161 properties still have their lease in force while for 163, it has expired. The total amount generated from the 324 properties leased for the year 2020- 21 is Rs 54,90,206.

Of the properties whose lease has expired, 74 are in West Bengaluru, 54 in South Bengaluru and 35 in East Bengaluru. Of those whose lease is still in effect, 88 are in East Bengaluru, 36 in West, 35 in South and one each in Yelahanka and Mahadevapura zones. “We know the status and account of the year 2020- 21, but we are still assessing the documents for 2021- 22,” the official said.