JOIN USHurdles to Mysore Road widening cleared, finally
A compromise formula was worked out with the two communities during a site review of the project conducted by the Bruhat Bangalore Mahanagara Palike (BBMP) Standing Committee on Major Works on Wednesday.
Standing Committee Chairman, H Ravindra said the road widening project in all probability is scheduled to start next Monday.
The Mysore Road widening project of the BBMP has been stalled over the past few months due to resistance from the two communities whose burial grounds would lose land to the project. However, during meetings with members of the Palike standing committee, representatives of the minority communities readily agreed to cede land - 167 meters of the Muslim burial ground and 6,000 sq ft of the Christian burial ground.
Alternative land
In return, the BBMP will ensure that no structure within the Muslim burial ground is razed and will build a compound wall at its cost. As for the Christians, the BBMP will provide the community with an alternative land 4,500 sq ft in the vicinity. The Christian community representatives will now try to get the sanction from the Archbishop for proceeding further with the compromise formula.
“The Muslims, Christians and the Hindus have all come together supporting the road widening project,” Ravindra told presspersons after the inspection. He said people losing property will be compensated by the BBMP in return for the Transfer of Development Rights (TDR) which will be bought by the Palike.
In reply to a question, Zameer Ahmad Khan, MLA, who accompanied the standing committee members said that a few of the affected persons were resisting the road widening project.
In Padarayanapura, as many as 241 properties were to be razed for the road to be widened. Zameer Ahmad put forward a solution to appease the shopkeepers and the BBMP by proposing that instead of the envisaged 80-feet road along Padarayanapura, the Palike could go for 60-feet road which would spare some of the houses along the stretch.
Mixed welcome
Meanwhile, it was a mixed welcome for the BBMP representatives on Mysore Road and Padarayanapura.
While slogans against the Palike and local MLA were raised by land losers for being insensitive to their demands, Chairman of the Standing Committee H Ravindra was garlanded by the local supporters of the MLA.
Another flyover
The Standing Committee on Major Works on Wednesday announced that the Rs 700-crore flyover construction project from Sirsi Circle to Kengeri is scheduled to begin next month.
However, the project is pending approval of the State Government. The ambitious flyover connecting Sirsi Circle to Kengeri is envisaged to cover a 13-km stretch. The first phase is learnt to cover a three-kilometre stretch from the Sirsi Circle end.