Nod to widen road near Palace Grounds

The perennial gridlocks on the arterial Bellary road will soon be a thing of the past as the width of the stretch between the Windsor Manor Junction and Mekhri Circle will be doubled to 160 feet.

With the Supreme Court clearing decks for acquisition of the land held by Mysuru Royal family, the authorities are expected to start the widening work soon. This would also ensure smooth ride to Kempegowda International Airport.

The court approved acquisition of 16 acres and three guntas of Palace Grounds and directed the government to give transferable development right (TDR) of the land. Reacting to the court direction, Chief Minister Siddaramaiah told reporters in Bengaluru on Saturday: “We will utilise the road for infrastructure facilities such as flyover to lessen traffic congestion.”

M Lakshminarayana, Commissioner, Bruhat Bangalore Mahanagara Palike (BBMP), said the road would be widened by 80 feet. The Supreme Court recently allowed the State to utilise the palace land to provide a direct road to the airport. The division bench comprising Justices Vikramjit Sen and Prafulla C Pant permitted the government on condition that the family members and legal representatives of the late Srikantadatta Wadiyar, erstwhile Maharaja of Mysore, should be provided with TDR of the land as sought by them.

“The widening of the road is a necessity. The BBMP had already widened Bellary Road from Raj Bhavan to Devanahalli, except the stretch near Palace Grounds,” it said.

The Wadiyars and other land holders submitted before the court that they were ready to surrender the required land provided TDR was given to them as per rules.
Some others said they had also already received usual compensation.

The State government had refused to grant TDR to land owners. It offered all of them compensation for the land. “The impasse, therefore, is to be crossed over. Keeping in mind the necessity of widening of the road, and the public interest, we think it is just and proper to allow the application subject to condition that the appellants in the present appeal and the connected appeals shall be given TDR for widening of the road as per TDR rules,” the bench said.

The State government has acquired the palace as well as surrounding 400 acres by passing the Bangalore Palace (Acquisition and Transfer) Act, 1996.
The constitutionality of the Act was challenged by legal heirs of the king before the apex court which had been referred to a nine-judge bench pending adjudication.