Bannerghatta Road widening: BDA blamed for delay

Amid allegations raised by MLA Sathish Reddy and corporators over the delay in the widening of the Bannerghatta Road, Bruhat Bengaluru Mahanagara Palike (BBMP) officials said the work along one of the major high-density corridors is progressing slowly.

According to the BBMP, the work is taking place along various parcels of land along the road as land acquisition is still pending and of the 7.44 km of the proposed widening work, about 1.8 km of the stretch has been completed.

“We have completed 40% of the work along the identified stretch with available lands. Land acquisition is yet to be completed as the Bangalore Development Authority has not cleared the TDR files yet. Once the BDA clears all those files, the work will assume a faster pace and will be completed soon,” BBMP’s executive engineer for road widening Nandeesh J R told DH.

The BBMP had notified 248 identified properties, including 117 vacant sites and 11 temples along the proposed road. The civic body could acquire five plots through Transferable Development Rights (TDR) along with land being transferred by government departments following chief secretary T M Vijay Bhaskar’s instructions.

Though work started in late 2017, it could not gain momentum as expected due to the construction of metro taking place along the Bannerghatta Road. The civic body said more work has taken place in Bangalore South constituency than the Bommanahalli constituency’s jurisdiction.

Recently, Bommanahalli MLA Sathish Reddy slammed the BBMP over the slow pace of work along the stretch despite property owners agreeing to give up land in exchange of TDR. Reddy had claimed he did not receive TDR from the BBMP despite giving his land along the stretch.

The project which costs Rs 150 crore, aims to widen the road between the Jedi Mara Junction and Koli Farm in Gottigere, from 80 to 160 feet, for 7.4 km to decongest traffic.