Pashmina Waterfront as seen on a Google map.

Investing in real estate in Bangalore is a dream of any investor. However, is the growth of this sector in tune with the infrastructure that the city can handle?

A close look by Citizen Matters at 26 constructions coming up in Whitefield – KR Puram area in East Bengaluru shows some alarming observations. When the 8,000 flats are fully occupied, new residents will need 10,662.87 KL of water a day (equivalent of 1780 water tankers of 6000 Litres). More than 19,697 cars will add to Whitefield traffic.

Ministry of Environment and Forests (MoEF) rules make builders of projects of more than 20,000 sqm built up area, apply for an Environmental Clearance (EC) from the state, along with all the other permissions and NOC from BBMP, BWSSB, Karnataka Ground Water Authority (KGWA) to drill borewells prior to construction commencement.

The State Expert Appraisal Committee (SEAC) receives the applications and recommends checks and balances, prior to recommending a project for EC to the State Environment Impact Assessment Authority (SEIAA).

The SEIAA reviews project details, clarifies issues and only then is the EC issued. In cases where construction has begun without an EC, the builder is served with a show cause notice. The KSPCB can file cases against builders under the Environment Protection Act if they proceed with construction without an EC.

What are the future projects coming up in Whitefield area?

Citizen Matters studied the project applications for large constructions from Bangalore City for EC, that came up for review with SEAC and forwarded to the SEIAA from 30th September 2013 to 26th August 2014.

As on 24th July 2014, 59 applications were received of which 49 were placed before the committee and of the 49 appraised only 7 were recommended to the SEIAA and the remaining were requested to submit additional information.

To highlight the impact some of these projects had on the city vis-a-vis its water, traffic and garbage management, only a small area of the city – comprising of K R Puram, Varthur and Mahadevapura, was considered for this study. Data has been extracted from SEIAA meeting minutes, meetings 73-79.

Listed below are the projects considered for this report. Most of them have not been given a go ahead yet, for construction. For some applications pending EC, builders are expected to submit certain clarifications and revisions before approval.

Shilpitha Royal from Maithri Developers, coming up between Kodigehalli and K R Puram, as seen on Google map.

The constructions are planned by both large and medium sized builders, including Bagmane, Prestige, Oceanus etc. The residential apartment complexes have anywhere from 195 to 1625 units. Listed below are some of the requirements / conditions that needed to be submitted by the builders prior to procuring their EC – not all conditions are applicable to all though.

• NoC from BWSSB
• Stormwater management plan
• Revised water balance, hydro-geological study to establish reliability and sufficiency of groundwater
• Relocation of sewage treatment plant
• Revised water balance enhancing maximum utilization of treated waste water
• Traffic survey and plan to prevent further impact on the main road
• Revision in parking arrangements and pedestrian safety plans
• Justification for floor area ratio (FAR) achieved
• Justification of two basements and podium
• Relocation of diesel genset
• Enhance energy savings to at least 25%
• Enhance greenbelt to at least 33%
• Safety measures proposed for removal of the rock in the project site and safe disposal
• Details of the location proposed for disposal of excess excavated earth
• Provision of barrier free environment for the physically challenged persons
• Specific social commitment plan with budget, activity and timeframe

Many of the approvals note that the builder submits an undertaking that they will spend a few lakhs as part of their ‘Social commitment plan toward environmental cause.’

If we were to only consider large residential and commercial projects coming up in the areas around K R Puram, Varthur and Mahadevapura that have applied for EC since October 2013, there were 28 applications. Based on the information provided by the builders (some of them have not given complete information in the documents submitted), for just the 26 construction projects – the quantum of garbage generated would be 16,056 kg per day, the water requirement per day would be 10,662.87 Kilo Litre pre Day (KLD) and the traffic on the road would increase by a minimum of 19,697 four-wheelers and twice the number of two wheelers from that locality. This figure is only likely to go up, because many builders have not furnished the details.

The table below indicates the minimum infrastructure requirement by the 26 projects, when they all get approved, in proportion to the requirement existing in the city now.

When just 26 projects coming up in one locality can add so much to city’s infrastructure requirements, imagine the burden on the city from the hundreds of constructions that are coming in the entire city.

Why is the traffic, water and garbage a worry?

The 26 constructions represent a small fraction of the area and population of the city. Now, some questions come up:

• Given the current garbage crisis, how is the BBMP going to manage this additional garbage? Are the provisions being made to have processing facilities? There is a court order that all future projects have to manage their own waste and have their own processing centres – but who is going to ensure they do? Will the environmental clearance process ensure this?
• How or where will BWSSB source the water from? Given that its service area of 800.29 sq kms covers only a population of 75 lakhs and their calculated per capita supply is 119 – 122 litres / day, how is BWSSB going to manage?
• If BWSSB cannot provide water, how long will borewell water last? Will it be a gala time for water tankers? Where will the tankers source their water from?
• How will the roads handle the additional vehicular load? How many roads need to be widened? Is there a plan for this? Do the townplanning officials who approve these plans keep in mind the vehicular load and suggest road-widening or traffic-planning? Is there a cordination between all the concerned agencies? Is there any integrated planning?

With the city still growing on the peripheries, adequate planning in an integrated manner, accounting for water requirements, sewage disposal, garbage disposal, traffic density etc. will aid orderly growth.

How is the city planning to handle the extra infrastructural requirement? Why is not the accordance of sanctions and development of required infrastructure not in synergy? Unless such questions are asked and right answers are found, we are bound to create more mess than we are in already.

Future projects near Whitefield, listed for environmental clearance

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