Road widening work awaits government nod

Road widening work awaits government nod
The Times of India

It is official now. The Bangalore City Corporation (BCC) will finally take up the much-awaited road widening work on city roads. With an estimated 50 lakh vehicles plying on the city roads moving in bumper-to-bumper 20 km speed at places, the government had no choice but to take this initiative.


It may be noted here that in the Legislative Assembly recently, Chief Minister Dharam Singh told the members that the survey work was on to estimate the cost to widen the roads and broadening work would soon take place by acquiring private land and due compensation will be given. The new Transferable of Development Rights will be applied where needed.

A top official in the BCC, giving details of the project, said, "the BCC outsourced the complete survey work for this project to a private consultant and a proposal is ready for 42 roads. The work will begin after a final nod from the state government".

Speaking on the compensation for private property owners whose land would be acquired for this project, he said, "with the new TDR Act coming into being, the task of handling land acquisition cases is easier now. And accordingly we will compensate building owners who surrender their property for widening and in the case of vacant lands, the owners will be awarded additional floor area ratio (FAR) which they can sell to others through a Development Rights Certificate (DRC)".

How it works

Quoting an example, he said, "if Z surrenders his vacant land measuring 1,000 sqft in an A Zone (intensely developed area), he would be awarded additional FAR which he can sell to a buyer in A, B (moderately developed area) and C (sparsely developed area) zones. The prerequisite for the buyer here is that he can go up one floor more (construct a building measuring 1,500 sqft) with a deviation of upto 50 percent only in accordance with the building byelaws stated in the KMC Act.

But if Z surrenders his vacant land in B zone, he can sell the FAR awarded to him in B and C zones only. If he surrenders his vacant land in a C zone, he can sell the FAR in C zone only".

What TDR means

With Transferable Development Rights (TDR), the city corporations are now empowered to relax building byelaws to benefit property owners. Now, if an owner gives up his vacant land voluntarily, instead of the compensation, he will be given an additional floor area ratio (FAR) that will be 1.5 times the size of the plot. FAR can be used either by the owner to extend his building or can be traded for a price. A DRC will be issued to the property owner. This, in turn, will be a legal document for the owner to trade.

According to the TDR, authorities can consider relaxing setbacks and coverage area to the tune of 50 percent. This applies to land surrendered free of cost for road widening. However, no such relaxation will be given to an area needed for parking.

But, the DRC issued to the property owner will not be valid for use on plots adjoining a road less than 12 meters wide. But, after surrendering the required land, if the remaining portion is found to be too small for any construction, the owner can give up the entire property to the government in lieu of DRC.

The government can also reject or cancel the DRC on certain grounds: where dues have to be paid by the owner to the government, where DRC is obtained by fraudulent means and where there is a dispute on the land title. The DRC must also have details about land, i.e. from where development rights have been generated and land use zone.

The authority will publish an annual programme for road widening, construction of a road or for any other public purpose for granting TDR. DRC will be issued only after the required land is surrendered to the authority free of cost and free of encumbrances. DRC will be valid for five years. It can be renewed for a further period of five years after paying revalidation fees. Authorities should maintain a register relating to grant and utilisation of TDR. A DRC is not valid for use on receivable plots in notified areas.

Some roads planned to be widened under Phase I are:

Bellary Road: Hebbal flyover to Minsk Square

Palace Road: Mysore Bank Circle to High Grounds Police Station

Seshadri Road: Central Jail Cross to K R Circle

Nrupatunga Road: K R Circle to Hudson Circle

Vidhana Veedhi: Gopala Gowda Circle to K R Circle

Mission Road: N R Road to K H Road

Devanga Hostel Road: Hudson Circle to Mission Road

Sankey Road: Cauvery Theatre junction to Yeshwantpur Circle

Lalbagh Road: K H Road to Richmond Circle

Jayamahal Road: Mehkri Circle to Cantonment Railway Station

Hosur Road: Central Silk Board junction to Yenkay factory junction

Hosur Laskar Road: Yenkay factory to Richmond Road

Victoria Road: D'Souza Circle to Airport Road

Lower Agram Road: Hosmat hospital to National Games Village

Bannerghatta Road: Hosur Laskar Road to J P Nagar Ring Road via Dairy Circle

Koramangala 80 Ft Road: National Games Village to Sarjapur Road

Dickenson Road: M G Road to Ulsoor Road

Ulsoor Road: Dickenson Road to Kensington Road

Old Madras Road: Trinity Circle to Murphy Road junction via Ulsoor

Richmond Road: Airport Road to Richmond Circle

Airport Road: Trinity Circle to Helicopter Division

Avenue Road, Lalbagh Fort Road, Mysore Road