Peripheral Ring Road project: Delay in acquisition causes distress among landowners

The BDA’s failure to acquire land for the Peripheral Ring Road (PRR) in time has caused psychological stress to affected people, especially the private landowners.

A total of 2,567 acres and 22.25 guntas of land in 78 villages is required for the PRR, a majority of which is land owned by private persons.

The Bangalore Development Authority (BDA), which will submit details of land acquisition to the deputy commissioner of Bengaluru Urban district, will calculate the cost escalation.

The BDA has left it to the government to decide whether or not to apply the Right to Fair Compensation and Transparency in Land Acquisition Act, 2013, which will more than double the expenditure on the acquisition.

During the field survey for the Environment Impact Assessment report, land losers demanded compensation under the 2013 Act.

“The delay of nearly 14 years has left people in misery and no hope for future development/activities. (They) were unable to either transact or build on their own land, which has led in delaying the marriages of their children. The land losers demanded additional compensation for the delays,” the report
said.

Some fed up with the delay “requested no-objection certificates” to sell their land.

“Psychological stress has developed among the project-affected persons due to the delay in providing compensation,” it said, adding that it has also led to animosity against the project.

Interestingly, “most” of the titleholders said that they have “already sold their lands and asked us why their names are still mentioned in the acquisition notification”.