Widening Tannery Road a challenge for civic body

After facing obstacles in many road-widening projects like Bannerghatta Road and Sarjapur Road, the BBMP is now all set to take up the tough job of widening Tannery Road.

The Bruhat Bengaluru Mahanagara Palike (BBMP) has already issued the work order to contractors to widen BR Ambedkar Road (Tannery Road), from MM Road to Outer Ring Road (ORR). However, work is struck due to the delay in acquiring densely built-up properties along the road.

The BBMP is holding talks with local corporators, MLAs and residents to convince them to accept transferable development rights (TDR) to go ahead with land acquisition for the project.

For the proposed Rs 30.92-crore project covering of 4.16 km, the BBMP requires about 31,500 square metres of land for which it needs to acquire 667 properties along the road. Currently, the BBMP has about 1,500 square metres of land belonging to 14 public bodies, of which eight properties were acquired through TDRs.

The number of private properties along the proposed stretch is about 653 which is a new worry for the BBMP. Local residents have refused to give land in exchange for TDR and have urged the BBMP to provide compensation based on market guidance value.

Speaking to DH, Somashekhara S, chief engineer, Road Infrastructure, BBMP, said: “The work order was issued long ago but we currently need to acquire land for the project for which we have been conducting meetings with MLAs, corporators and residents for TDR. Since we have to acquire 653 properties, it may require some time before full-fledged civil works start,” he said.

The project aims to widen the stretch to four lanes of 24 metres width (80 feet), including footpaths and drains on either side from the existing carriageway, which varies in width between seven and 15 metres.

Nandish J R, executive engineer, road widening, BBMP, said: “As the public consultation for land acquisition is going on, we have started the construction of a compound wall and drain works on 14 public properties which we have already acquired. We will start the work in parcels of land whenever the land is acquired from private properties. However, we have currently done initial work near the KG Halli police station as part of the project,” he said.

The project aims to decongest traffic for the proposed length between MM Road and Ambedkar College along Tannery Road.