After a long gap, Chief Minister Basavaraj Bommai on Wednesday reviewed the long-pending peripheral ring road (PRR) project, which is in cold storage due to multiple reasons.
While the outcome of the meeting is not known, Bommai reportedly told the Bangalore Development Authority (BDA) to take up the project with all “seriousness.”
The closed-door meeting was held with senior officials of the BDA.
While the BDA had twice attempted to take forward the 65-km project by inviting tenders, there was no response from the bidders. One of the key reasons is the ambiguity surrounding the compensation structure for land losers. While the BDA had offered compensation as per the old rates, the land losers wanted the authority to follow the latest rules while settling compensation.
Sources in the BDA had estimated that choosing the new compensation structure over the old one could increase the cost of land acquisition by Rs 6,000 crore. Officials said a meeting has been scheduled with the Advocate General of Karnataka on the future course of action, particularly because the Supreme Court had directed the BDA to provide compensation based on the date of notification.
The farmers were, however, not happy with the order. Alternatively, the BDA has come up with a compensation structure based on the Right to Fair Compensation and Transparency in Land Acquisition, Rehabilitation and Resettlement Act of 2013.
Separately, the BDA is also considering the plan of spilling the 65-km project into three (Tumakuru Road-Ballari Road-Old Madras Road-Hosur Road) in case of poor response from bidders.
Published 11 January 2023, 22:09 IST