Road widening: BBMP surveys palace land to decide compensation

Bengaluru: Following the Siddaramaiah government’s consent to use 15 acres and 39 guntas of palace land to widen Ballari Road and Jayamahal Road, the Bruhat Bengaluru Mahanagara Palike (BBMP) surveyed the property on Friday.

Sources said the survey was undertaken to prepare the Correct Dimension Report (CDR), crucial to determine the extent of the land to be compensated.

The civic body measured the land armed with surveying instruments. It is learnt that municipal authorities engaged the services of personnel from other departments.

“The palace land was utilised twice in the past, one for constructing the Palace Cross Road and the other for building an underpass at Mekhri Circle,” a source told DH. “We are now measuring the extent of vacant land that is available between the compound wall and the road.”

A Correct Dimension Report (CDR) must be a familiar term to BDA site allotees, where the agency prepares the report before issuing possession certificates of the developed sites.

In the palace land’s case, the 15 acres and 39 guntas was the portion sought in 2009 for road widening. The CDR will help determine compensation in the form of Transferable Development Rights (TDR).

After the report’s finalisation, the Revenue Department is expected to fix the guidance value for the land to determine the extent of compensation.

In February 2021, the BBMP estimated the TDR at Rs 1,400 crore considering the rough guidance value of Rs 10,037 per square feet to use 13.91 lakh square feet of palace area. But it would likely take up a fresh exercise since the 472-acre Bengaluru palace property, including the 15 acres, did not find a mention in the Department of Stamp’s Gazette publication.

The Bangalore Palace (Acquisition and Transfer) Act passed by the Karnataka government in 1996, which received presidential assent, fixed compensation for the entire 472 acres of palace property as Rs 11 crore.

Meanwhile, Karnataka Rashtra Samithi (KRS) has asked the state government to drop the plan to issue TDR for using the 15-acre palace land, reminding the government about the 1996 act.

The party has also submitted a letter to Revenue Minister Krishna Byre Gowda against fixing the guidance value, raising suspicions that the TDR compensation would cost the state exchequer a loss of Rs 35,000 crore.