A formal closure to the proposed 51-km Phase II of the Peripheral Ring Road (PRR) around Bangalore City is just round the corner. Once the State government approves the integration of the Nice Peripheral Road and the 65-km PRR Phase I, the Bangalore Development Authority (BDA) is expected to drop the second phase altogether and denotify the land.
The Phase II stretch, linking Hosur Road and Tumkur Road through Bannerghatta, Kanakapura, Mysore and Magadi roads, had always been tricky for the BDA. The Authority’s original alignment had come in the way of about 400 houses in Gottigere built under the Ashraya scheme. But changing the alignment would have meant eating into the Bannerghatta National Park and raising wildlife concerns. There was no other alternative land.
The Bangalore Development Authority had raised these issues and the proposed road’s close proximity to the existing 41-km Nice Peripheral Road, in a letter addressed to the Urban Development Department.
The Authority, it is learnt, had recommended that this portion of the PRR be formally closed and the land denotified. A high-level committee chaired by Chief Minister Siddaramaiah is expected to accept this shortly.
But this matter could have been resolved three years ago. At a meeting between BDA and Nice officials held in October, 2010 in the office of the BDA commissioner, the closure of the proposed Phase II plan was discussed in detail.
Processes to be cancelled
The integration of NICE and PRR Phase I roads that was agreed upon, implied that all processes related to the second phase would be cancelled. Here’s a relevant proceeding from the minutes of this meeting: “Acquisition of land for this road (PRR) has already been notified.
It is recommended that the stretch between Tumkur Road and Hosur Road need not be duplicated as the NICE Corridor project in this area is already under construction.” The integration of the NICE and PRR Phase I, besides negating Phase II, was also designed to marginally reduce the length of the first phase.
A huge relief
Denotifying the land for the PRR Phase II could be a huge relief for farmers and hundreds of people who had bought sites in private layouts that had come up on the alignment route, particularly in the vicinity of Electronic City.
Uncertainty over the fate of their sites had forced many to sell off their properties at reduced rates.
