BBMP awaits govt approval to widen Begur Road

Commute along Bommanahalli, Bannerghatta Road, Jigani and Electronics City in southern Bengaluru will become less cumbersome if the government were to approve a proposal to widen the Begur Road.

If the road is widened, it would cut down the commute time to areas like Electronics City, Jigani and other nearby areas.

The Bruhat Bengaluru Mahanagara Palike, which had called for tenders, has finalised the bidder and has forwarded the project to the government for approval. The civic body assures that the work would start as soon as it obtains the nod.

The BBMP wants to widen the road from Bommanahalli Junction till Bannerghatta Road via Begur Koppa village, a 3.6-kilometre stretch. The road is 30 to 45 feet wide; the civic body proposes to stretch it up to 80 feet at a cost of Rs 60 crore.

The project would ease traffic congestion between two high-density corridors — Hosur Road and Bannerghatta Road.

The project may not be without hurdles. The BBMP has to acquire land from 700 private property owners to whom it wants to offer Transferable Development Rights (TDR) in exchange for the land.

At a recent BBMP council meeting, Bommanahalli MLA M Sathish Reddy had accused the civic officials of not moving the TDR files, though the owners are ready to surrender their land.

“We have sent the file for the government’s approval,” said a BBMP official. “We expect it would take a month’s time. As soon as the approval is obtained, we’ll start work with the available land.”

The BBMP had included the project in its 2018 budget, earmarking Rs 15 crore as the initial allocation. But it had to take back the money after the project was stalled. The road is considered significant as it would enable commuters to Bannerghatta Road and Electronics City to bypass the bottleneck.