BMP to aquire land for road widening work

BMP to aquire land for road widening work

The Hindu

BANGALORE: The Bangalore Mahanagara Palike (BMP) authorities have issued demolition notice to owners of 200 buildings for deviating from their original sanctioned plan, the BMP Commissioner, K. Jothiramalingam, said here on Wednesday.

Speaking at a public discussion organised by the Public Affair Centre (PAC) on "Transferable Development Rights," Mr. Jothiramalingam said the BMP has issued notices to the owners of these buildings and has given them the option of going in for the new TDR scheme. The owners have contested the notices but the court's decision is in favour of the BMP. "So now we will go ahead with the demolition of those buildings shortly," Mr. Jothiramalingam added.

The TDR scheme envisages permitting an additional Floor Area Ratio (FAR) to owners whose land is acquired for road widening. The BMP can acquire land without paying compensation and the owners have the option to either extend construction or sell the "rights" to a prospective builder.

He said the BMP has held talks with the Indian Army authorities on acquiring military land for road widening. "They have agreed to extend their cooperation. We have identified military land near Airport Road and Banaswadi flyover that may be acquired for road widening," he added.

But the citizens, who participated in the discussion, did not seem to be impressed with the new scheme.

There was chaos for some time with many citizens accusing the BMP of having a `big brother's attitude and said it is just using the scheme as another tool to acquire land from the public without being considerate. "Do we have an option? If we do not opt for TDR, the BMP authorities will come and acquire our land forcibly under the Land Acquisition Act. What is the need of the public forum when you have already decided on the issue?" a participant asked.

Many expressed concern that the scheme may be misused by land developers and those who violate building bylaws. Others said the road widening measures might harm the environment and heritage structures.

But BMP officials maintained that land has to be acquired for road widening for the larger public good to keep pace with the increasing development and traffic in Bangalore. TDR is only an option that is being offered, they said.

Earlier, Mr. Jothiramalalingam said the BMP has taken up 45 roads for widening in the first stage and Hosur-Laskar Road will be the first one to be widened. Survey work for 24 roads has been completed, he added.

Shameem Bano, Principal Secretary, Urban Development, said one of the purposes of the scheme is to maintain heritage sites. So there is no question of destroying them for the purpose of road widening.

A. Ravindra, former Chief Secretary; Ravi Kumar, Secretary for Urban Development, and P.K. Sreehari, Additional Commissioner (Finance), participated in the discussion.