More than eight years after it first notified land in 67 villages for the Peripheral Ring Road (PRR), the Bangalore Development Authority (BDA) has finally come forward with an attractive compensation package for landlosers.
BDA Commissioner T Sham Bhatt told Express, “We are planning to offer either the land value fixed by a price fixation committee, headed by the Bangalore Urban DC, or 40 per cent of the developed land as compensation.”
Similar compensation was offered for lands acquired around the city for layouts and land owners had agreed to it, he said. “We are also planning to give Transferable Developmental Rights to those who are willing to take them,” he added.
Narayana Reddy, a land owner, said, “This is a good proposal only if the price fixation committee fixes existing market values. Most farmers do not know any other occupation and have to buy land elsewhere.”
Giving up developed land might help those who have surplus land or a lot of money, he said adding that they will have to collectively take a decision.
Karnataka Rajya Raitha Sangha president Kodihalli Chandrashekar said, “We have brought this to the notice of CM Siddaramaiah and requested him to enhance the compensation to 60 per cent of the developed land or fix existing market value. Now, he has to decide.”
Between 2005 and 2007, the BDA had notified 1,810 acres and 18.5 guntas of land for the PRR. According to the original notification, land owners were supposed to get compensation based on the guidance value prevailing then, when the preliminary notification was issued in 2005. As the guidance value shot up in 2007 after the BDA issued the notification, around 2,400 land owners formed an association and opposed the acquisition.
Initially, they demanded the prevailing guidance value as compensation and subsequently started demanding the existing market value.