BENGALURU: The Supreme Court came down heavily on Bangalore Development Authority (BDA) for the enormous delay in readying the Peripheral Ring Road (PRR) project. Making an adverse inference to the integrity of top officials involved in site allotment, it directed BDA to transfer them.
The observations were made on Tuesday by Justices S Abdul Nazeer and Sanjiv Khanna, during a hearing on the ongoing case, Bangalore Development Authority Vs State of Karnataka and Others. State Advocate-General Prabhuling K Navadgi and BDA Commissioner Rajesh Gowda were present at the virtual hearing.
While the hearing was in connection with Dr Shivaram Karanth Layout, the Rs 21,091-crore PRR occupied centre-stage as it would pass through the layout, a top BDA source said.
The court sought to know the progress made by BDA on the project proposed 15 years ago. “You have been promising Bengaluru’s people right from 2006. What have you done till date, except make promises. We are in 2021 and I don’t see light at the end of the tunnel even after 25 years,” the court said. A Special Purpose Vehicle was constituted by the state government for PRR, it pointed out. “Your duty is only to acquire land and deliver it to the SPV.” The court said land acquisition for Karanth Layout had slowed down, and directed the BDA Commissioner to hold a meeting every Friday with land acquisition officials and present details to the SC-appointed Justice A V Chandrasekhar Committee every Monday.
Transfer top BDA officials
Hinting at irregularities in the functioning of the officials, the court said, “We are getting lots of complaints about the secretary and deputy secretaries in your allotment section. All is not well. Either you transfer them or they should mend their ways.” The court also queried: There was a very efficient secretary, why have your transferred her? The court also pulled up the Advocate-General for not submitting status report on government lands, despite a specific direction to do so.