PRR project crawls, CM Bommai upset with BDA

Expressing displeasure over the long-pending peripheral ring road (PRR) project, Chief Minister Basavaraj Bommai on Monday warned the Bangalore Development Authority (BDA) that the project will be handed over to other departments if the BDA continued with its laid-back approach.

Bommai expressed displeasure that the officials did not have immediate information on the land acquisition process.

The CM's reaction came at a meeting with senior officers to review the 65- km PRR. BDA Chairman S R Vishwanath was present.

While the project is proposed to be taken up under public-private partnership (PPP), the land acquisition process has been a major hurdle that has put the project in cold storage. Even when the BDA had floated tenders twice, no bidder came forward as the authority did not specify the amount needed to acquire the properties.

Speaking to DH, Vishwanath said the Supreme Court had ordered that the acquisition of properties for PRR does not come under the ambit of the 2013 land acquisition Act. "The farmers are, however, not willing to part with their land as per the old land acquisition rules. I have requested the government to pass an ordinance so that they are compensated well. This will also bring a good name to the government," he said.

It's learnt that the CM was not happy with the BDA's laid-back approach to a project as major as PRR. He reportedly suggested handing over the project to either the Public Works Department, Infrastructure Development Department or the Karnataka Road Development Corporation (KRDCL).

The government is likely to schedule another meeting in two days.