PRR land acquisition: BDA chief holds talks with farmers

Two days after the state cabinet gave administrative approval for the Peripheral Ring Road (PRR), BDA authorities held a meeting on Friday with a delegation of farmers whose lands are to be acquired for the long-delayed project.

BDA Chairperson S R Vishwanath met the delegation led by farmer leader Kodihalli Chandrashekar and promised that the project would be taken up only after “detailed discussions” with all the farmers who are set to lose their land.

On Wednesday, the cabinet approved calling tenders for the PRR, a 73.5-km-long, 100-metre-wide road that will connect Tumakuru and Hosur roads at a staggering cost of Rs 21,000 crore.

First planned in 2007, the project had been in cold storage mainly due to land acquisition issues. The cabinet approval came after the Supreme Court allowed land acquisition for the project in November 2021. The government estimates that a total of 2,560 acres will be required.

The government plans to get a private player to build the PRR at its own cost, operate it for 50 years and transfer it to the BDA. The contractor will also have to acquire land.

Vishwanath said the project had been revived to meet the needs of a fast-growing city. “Bengaluru is growing fast and the traffic density is increasing rapidly,” he added.

He promised that the project would be taken only after holding discussions with farmers as well as the government. “The BDA is committed to protecting farmers’ interests,” he said.

The BDA plans to hold “detailed discussions” with farmers in late February once other modalities are worked out.

Vishwanath said discussions would be held with Chief Minister Basavaraj Bommai on land acquisition before a decision was taken on compensation to be paid to farmers.

A source said farmers want the BDA to compensate them as per the Right to Fair Compensation and Transparency in Land Acquisition, Rehabilitation and Resettlement Act, 2013, which stipulates that landowners in rural areas should be compensated four times the market value of their land and two times in urban areas. A big chunk of the land to be acquired for the PRR falls under various gram panchayats, outside the city limits.

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