According to sources in BDA, the land price offered in the five layouts will be Rs 500 per sq ft. Further, BDA is also playing it safe with the compensation component involved in the land acquisition process.
A total of 1,76,000 sites (excluding Civic Amenity sites and commercial sites) are expected to be distributed in the five layouts. Around 15,277 acres of land spread over 56 villages will be acquired for the layouts, that have been planned on a combined budget of Rs 8,314 crore. The figures are mindboggling and if the BDA’s previous run-ins with property owners over land acquisition are indication, the task is going to be tremendous.
For starters, the BDA is yet to initiate the land acquisition process. Once the Cabinet clears the proposal, followed by the notification and the mandatory objection-calling period, the layouts will take off.
Intense opposition
Considering the recent history of public outcry against government-backed land acquisition for infrastructure projects in Bangalore, the five layouts are bound to trigger intense opposition as well. BDA, however, sounds up for the challenge.“The new policy stresses on compensation in kind, instead of cash. Under this policy, land owners will be considered as our partners. These who part with land for the layouts will be compensated with 40 per cent of the developed area,” says Veerabhadraiah, Deputy Commissioner (Land Acquisition), BDA.
He says that the formula will tremendously help in taking land owners into confidence.
The Deputy Commissioner also dismisses comparisons between land acquisition for the BDA’s prestigious Peripheral Ring Road and the five layouts.
“PRR is a road project, while the layouts offer sites to the public. With the compensation policy also in place, there should be no room for protests,” he reasons. The policy stipulates that around 45 per cent of every acquired acre will be taken up for development, while land-owners will get 40 per cent of the remaining 55 per cent area. In effect, this means 9,583 sq ft for every acquired acre.
Many BDA projects, including PRR, have faced stiff public opposition over land acquisition. BDA’s new compensation policy has found favour with farmers in Devanahalli, who have demanded compensation on similar lines from KIADB, that is set to develop an aerospace industrial park and SEZs in their neighbourhoods.
BDA officials hope that the policy would work as a please-all formula.
Compensation
Those land owners who don’t accept the 40-per cent formula will get monetary compensation and a site as incentive, as per the prevailing provisions of the Land Acquisition Act, officials said. The land owners who are compensated with developed land, however, will not be eligible to get the incentive site or the additional compensation.
Cabinet nod
The five proposed layouts (see map) — Dr K Shivarama Karanth Layout, Nadaprabhu Kempegowda Layout, D Devaraj Urs Layout, Kyasambahalli Changalaraya Reddy Layout and S Nijalingappa Layout — will take shape only after the State Cabinet gives its nod. With the Urban Local Bodies elections round the corner, the clearance could take a while, according to BDA sources. “The preliminary notification, identifying the survey numbers to be acquired for the layouts, will be issued only after the Cabinet clearance. Later, a 60-day period will be given for people to file objections, if any, following which, the final notification will be issued,” says a senior official.

GROUP HOUSING
BDA has also earmarked 100 acres of land in each of the five proposed layouts, for the Economically Weaker Sections. This will translate into nearly 15,000 group houses in each layout. The project envisages a total of 75,000 Group Housing Units, to be constructed over a period of three years.