BDA slows down as road project nears VIP trust

Work on a 10.77 km arterial road in Nadaprabhu Kempegowda Layout is moving at a snail’s place as it has run into a land acquisition hurdle. Of the 321 acres notified for acquisition, the Bangalore Development Authority (BDA) has taken possession of only 252 acres so far.

One of the properties holding up the project belongs to a trust backed by Higher Education Minister Dr C N Ashwath Narayan.

Property owners who gave up their land for the project wonder what is stopping BDA from acquiring land belonging to the trust (Survey No 145, 144, 64/6 in Kommaghatta). The 10-lane road connects Mysore Road (RR Medical College) and Magadi Road (Kadabagere Circle).

So far, the BDA has acquired the land and nearly completed preliminary work from Mysore Road till the property owned by the trust. Sources said the trust has written a letter to the Urban Development department, expressing concerns over the BDA’s land acquisition method.

With respect to land acquisition, the BDA has made much progress in Challaghatta, Kommaghatta, Kannalli and K Krishnagar and a few more places, where it has acquired a total of 252 acres. Most properties yet to be acquired are situated in Machohalli, Kenchanapura, Sulikere and Kambipura. The trust’s property is in Kommaghatta.

According to the latest data, the BDA has completed work on 5.06 km of the 10.77 km of the arterial road. Overall, the BDA has completed 44% of civil works. The road project — estimated to cost Rs 465 crore — includes three flyovers and a box culvert.

Delay in handing over of land to the BDA’s engineering section has put the entire project in a limbo. “We have completed the work in bits and pieces as full right of way is yet to be given to us,” a senior BDA official told DH.

Another official said the BDA had been able to acquire only a couple of properties on the contentious 68 acres.

What the trust says

Members of the Padmashree Charitable Trust, which is run by family members of Ashwath Narayan, MLA from Malleswaram, blamed the BDA for creating confusion with respect to its two-acre property.

“We had not taken up construction on the notified land as we were aware of the road project. The BDA however messed up the acquisition by notifying a large part of Survey No 144 (18 guntas), most of which does not fall along the alignment. The BDA has sought 16 guntas of land in Survey No 145. Both properties belong to the trust. The BDA has admitted its mistake by writing and they are working on a revised compensation structure,” a trust member said.

He said the trust was not creating any obstacles. “We are willing to give away the land for the formation of the road but there has been a delay on the part of BDA,” he said.

Sources however said the Survey No 144, acquired previously, is needed to facilitate the formation of the main access road to the Nadaprabhu Kempegowda Layout.