As a measure to prevent traffic congestion in Bengaluru, the Karnataka Cabinet decided to speed up the construction of the Bengaluru Business Corridor, formerly Peripheral Ring Road, by offering development rights for farmers whose land is acquired for the project.
Apart from bringing down the overall cost of the project, most of which is required for land acquisition, the new compensation measure for land losers is also expected to speed up the project, which has been in limbo for almost two decades.
Addressing a news conference following the Cabinet meeting, Deputy Chief Minister D K Shivakumar said that a notification was issued in the past to acquire a uniform length of 100 m for the proposed corridor.
“In it, 65 m will be used for the construction of the road, while 35 m will be given as compensation for farmers who lose the land for commercial development,” he said.
If the farmers are not willing to develop the land, then compensation will be provided in the form of residential sites in the land developed by the Bangalore Development Authority (BDA), according to the minister.
As many as 1,900 families will be affected by the land acquisition for the project, first notified by the Government in 2007.
Anyone losing less than 20 guntas of land will be eligible only for cash compensation. The compensation will be two times the guidance value in the corridor’s stretches passing through urban areas and three times the value in rural areas. The other compensation schemes include granting additional floor area ratio for those losing the land, or issuing transferable development rights, he said.
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In the 65 m set aside for roads, both a tolled road and a service road will be constructed. Also, a 5 m space is provided at the centre for the construction of a metro line in the future, Shivakumar announced.
The scheme will be implemented for the construction of the 117 km road notified by the Government, coming up in two stretches—Tumakuru Road to Electronic City and Electronic City to Mysuru Road.
While initial estimates for the road were around Rs 27,000 crore, the cost is expected to come down to Rs 10,000 crore because of the compensation scheme. To further ease traffic movement, tunnels and a cloverleaf interchange will be constructed at a few points by the BDA, which is implementing the project, Shivakumar said.
Shivakumar estimated the reduction of about 40 per cent of the traffic entering the city once the corridor is constructed. He said the project was essential because “Bengaluru is choking” with traffic.