BENGALURU: The move by the Bangalore Development Authority (BDA) to build a road passing through Nadaprabhu Kempe Gowda Layout to help site owners here, had hit a roadblock after farmers refused to accept the compensation offered as exchange for their lands. However, with a breakthrough achieved recently following the BDA’s offer of more land, work in this connection can start now.
According to a top BDA official, 321 acres were required to lay a 10-km road (Peripheral Ring Road-II) between Magadi Road and Mysuru Road. Nearly 200 landowners were required to part with their properties for the purpose.“Due to the cash-strapped position of the BDA, the organisation was not in a position to pay compensation money under the new Land Acquisitions Act 2013 which is in effect now, but was willing to offer 9,583 square feet of developed land as exchange for every acre acquired. However, farmers refused to accept this deal putting the road plan in jeopardy,” a top official said.
The proposed scheme was under the 40:60 pattern which is followed by the BDA whenever it acquired land, whereby 40 percent of the land developed on the acquired sites were handed over to the landowners and the organisation retained 60 percent.
“The farmers finally agreed to it as they now got 11,979 square feet of land in exchange for every acre. The state Cabinet too gave its approval recently for this move,” the official said. The proposed road will now have a width of 50 metres only instead of the 100 metres planned initially. Individual notifications to landowners will be issued and the formal process of taking over the lands will be issued shortly.