BENGALURU: Owners of BDA sites in HBR Layout are upset about having to part with portions of their property for a metro station dotting the KR Puram-Kempegowda International Airport Line. They have submitted a petition to Chief Minister H D Kumaraswamy as well as the managing director of Bangalore Metro Rail Corporation Ltd (BMRCL), calling for shelving of the proposed HBR Layout station. The petition sent on May 28 is signed by 21 site owners of the Layout’s 4th Block that lines the service road of the Outer Ring Road. They are afraid that a metro station here will make the place congested.
According to the petition, airport line will have Metro stations on either side of HBR Layout - at Nagawara, which is 0.9 km away from it, and Kalyan Nagar, which is 1.2km away. BMRCL plans to create entry and exit points for its HBR Layout as well as a bus bay, which will require acquisition of a small portion of their property.The ORR between Hennur Junction and Nagawara is only 50ft wide on either side and this insufficient width leads to blockage of traffic for long hours, it added. Chandrakumar, who owns a site here, said: “We are in the final stages of constructing a four-storeyed hospital on our site. BMRCL wants 10ft of our property where the entry to our hospital with ramps and stairs are being constructed. How can anyone enter the hospital?” A retired Navy Commander is devastated. On condition of anonymity he said: “BMRCL has marked 4,000 sqft of my 8,000 sqft property for acquisition. My retirement plans to build a house goes for a toss.”
Some are opposing the HBR Layout station to express solidarity with their neighbouring site owners.
M S Channappa Goudar, land acquisitions manager, BMRCL, said: “Public development is more important than individual interests. We offer a handsome compensation for whatever land gets acquired.”