BENGALURU: In a major breakthrough in connection with land acquisition for the Kengeri Line of Metro’s Phase-II, a compromise has finally been reached between the Bangalore Development Authority and the Bangalore Metro Rail Corporation Ltd (BMRCL) over the contentious issue of compensation amount for the land to be handed over for the Challaghatta depot. The Urban Development Department has convinced the BDA to accept less than half of the Rs 142 crore it had been seeking as compensation for its 12 acres of land.
The minutes of the meeting between the Additional Chief Secretary, top BDA and BMRCL officials at Vidhana Soudha were released to the departments on Wednesday.
M S Channapagoudar, General Manager, Land Acquisitions Department, BMRCL, TNIE, “BDA was keen on getting a compensation of Rs 142 crore for the 12 acres it had handed over to us. As per the Land Acquisition Act, we were ready to pay Rs 26 crore for the property but they were not ready to accept it. We had taken possession of the land but could not do anything with it until this issue was sorted out.”
To ensure the deadlock is broken, the ACS intervened and ensured a compromise was reached, he added. “BMRCL has now agreed to part with Rs 5 crore per acre of land, which translates to Rs 60 crore in total. We require another 6 acres of land for the depot for which a stay in pending in the high court. Steps to vacate the stay will be taken up urgently and a similar compensation of Rs 5 crore per acre would be paid in the case of this parcel of land too,” he said.
Three months ago, the BDA had even put out a public statement stating it required a compensation of Rs 142 crore for its land. BMRCL can now begin the process of calling for tenders in connection with civil works related to the depot, which was stuck for a year due to land problems, the GM said.
The 8.81-km Mysore Road to Kengeri stretch (Reach 2A and 2B) in the original plan, was extended by 1.5km to include the Challaghatta depot. The depot is of crucial importance to stable and maintain trains here. The five stations of Nayandahalli, Rajarajeshwari Nagar, Bangalore University Cross, RV College of Engineering and Kengeri figure in it.