Representative image of a BBMP office.
Credit: DH File Photo
The Bruhat Bengaluru Mahanagara Palike (BBMP) has proposed widening the ITPL Main Road by adding a lane on either side of the 10-km stretch, covering Mahadevapura, Hoodi, Shantiniketan, Hope Farm, and Channasandra.
The plan may take about two years to materialise, as the civic body intends to acquire 150 private properties by offering compensation under the Transferable Development Rights (TDR) scheme.
Last month, the BBMP issued a notification to acquire these properties, noting that the Revised Master Plan of 2015 had fixed the road’s width at 45 metres.
"As the RMP had prescribed a width of 45 metres, about 50% of property owners relinquished land while seeking building plan approvals. We will acquire the remaining land by providing TDR as compensation," a senior BBMP official said.
He admitted, however, that land acquisition is a time-consuming process as it involves surveys, re-surveys, and record verification, among other procedures.
Although ITPL Main Road connects to Bengaluru’s tech hub and faces heavy traffic congestion, it remains narrow with multiple bottlenecks. Widening the stretch will be a challenge, as buildings, both new and old, line the route.
On Friday, around two dozen landowners from Hoodi met BBMP Chief Commissioner M Maheshwar Rao, requesting the civic body to drop the acquisition.
They opposed the BBMP’s plan to offer only TDR and no cash compensation. Some pointed out that the notification listed outdated names, omitting recent property owners.
As per the notification, owners surrendering land would be paid twice the area of land relinquished as development rights (notional land). While this is considered attractive on paper, landowners lack confidence in the BBMP, which has yet to create a transparent, broker-free TDR market.