SC directs Karnataka govt, BDA to acquire land for peripheral ring road

The Supreme Court has directed the Karnataka government and the Bangalore Development Authority to acquire the land for the formation of Peripheral Ring Road and proceed to implement the project, which is meant to reduce the stress and congestion in the city roads.

A bench of Justices S Abdul Nazeer and Sanjiv Khanna issued the directions after going through an affidavit filed by Additional Chief Secretary, Government of Karnataka, Urban Development Department, Bengaluru.

A response filed by the state government stated the Bengaluru needs the Peripheral Ring Road (PRR) encircling the city for a length of 116 km more than ever in view of the phenomenal growth of the metropolis in all directions. It was first proposed on November 27, 2006 by the BDA.

"The geographical extent of the city has grown to 2196 sq kms. The vehicle count as of 2019 was over 80 lakhs. Bengaluru being the capital city, thousands of vehicles come in every day from various parts of the state as well as outside the state. There is enormous pressure on city roads and public transport system is overstressed," it said,

The PRR will greatly reduce the stress and congestion in the city roads. The government is very keen to facilitate the early execution of the PRR, it added.

With regard to government land required for the project, it pointed out 216 acres and 18 guntas were notified in 2007. Out of this, an extent of 141 acres and 34 guntas of required for the carriageway can be transferred by the Revenue Department to BDA within eight weeks.

The cost of land acquisition, though estimated as Rs 15,475.00 crore as on December 2020, will increase upwardly due to the interest component, while the construction is estimated to be Rs 5,616 crore. Thus, the total cost at end of December 2020 is Rs 21,091 crores, it said.

Due to steep revision of the cost, the BDA has now proposed to implement the project fully funded (cost of land acquisition and construction maintenance and operation) by the concessionaire under PPP-DBFOT (Public Private Partnership – Design, Build, Finance, Operate and Transfer) mode. It has proposed to call for global tenders to finalise the concessionaire offering lowest concession period, the government said.

The Special Purpose Vehicle (SPV) was registered as a company in the name of Bengaluru PRR Development Corporation Ltd for the purpose.

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