BBMP’s land swap deal with MoD hits a fresh roadblock

The land exchange deal between the Bruhat Bengaluru Mahanagara Palike (BBMP) and the Ministry of Defence (MoD) has hit a deadlock, with the ministry making fresh demands.

While the BBMP has identified land for exchange in 10 locations for developmental work, the MoD has now asked the civic body to buy the encroached land as a prerequisite to release the land identified by the Palike.

At a meeting held between BBMP officials and the special secretary, MoD, to review the process to acquire the defence land, the ministry official told BBMP: “In the Modi Garden road project, a small piece of land under occupation by private parties may also be taken by the BBMP so that the army can build the compound wall around its land.”

Former BBMP commissioner N Manjunath Prasad, present at the meeting, said the Palike might acquire the land if it was offered for free. The reply came after the army wanted the BBMP to pay for the land if it wants to acquire the Sawar Line Road, currently with the ministry.

“The Sawar Line Road in Kaval Byrasandra actually belongs to the BBMP,” a civic official said. “It was earlier occupied by the army, which the local residents challenged in court after the army blocked entry to the public. The court ruled in favour of the residents and asked the army to build an approach road for the locals. So, this is clearly a BBMP property.”

But the army now wants the BBMP to pay compensation for the area. “Though the BBMP is not required to pay, we are paying Rs 15 crore for this. But the MoD officials now want us to pay and acquire the encroached area on the other side and are laying it as a prerequisite to acquiring Sawar Line Road. This is unacceptable,” the official said.

The BBMP has been stuck with the land acquisition process for several years, having proposed developmental work around the defence property. It gathered speed after former defence minister Nirmala Sitharaman assured to expedite the process.

But the process has slowed down, with the MoD taking time to ascertain the feasibility of the equal value land offered by the BBMP with its protocol.