New layout with 50,000 sites planned

New layout with 50,000 sites planned

The Hindu

Report on the Rs. 1,800-crore project is ready

# New layout to be ready 20 months after verdict on Arkavathy Layout
# It will have a railway station, a helipad, colleges and hospitals
# Three water treatment plants to be built
# Dual pipe system to supply potable water and recycled water

BANGALORE: Bangalore's biggest housing layout of 50,000 sites, to be developed by the Bangalore Development Authority (BDA), will be ready 20 months after the High Court gives its decision on the Arkavathy Layout.

The project report on the Rs. 1,800-crore layout, to be developed on 5,000 acres of land, is ready, M.N. Vidyashankar, BDA Commissioner, said on Tuesday.

Speaking before visiting Anjanapura Layout on Kanakpura Road, which has been renamed "Lal Bahadur Shastri Nagar," he said the BDA hopes that the court will give a judgment on the 20,000-site Arkavathy Layout within two months. "The Chief Justice has taken up the issue," he said.

Mr. Vidyashankar said land acquisition for the layout will be completed in five months. He is not indicating the location of the proposed layout as "a few builders will buy up large plots, and this will drive up land prices in the area," he added.

To avoid wrangles with house owners over legality of land acquisition after the final notification, the BDA is planning to take satellite images of the area on the days of issue of the preliminary and final notifications. A private agency has been identified, Mr. Vidyashankar said.

The new layout will have three water treatment plants as well as a dual pipe system to for supply of potable and recycled water.

A sewage treatment plant has been planned, Mr. Vidyashankar said.

Water will most probably be supplied from the Cauvery by the BWSSB.

However, Mr. Vidyashankar said the decision will be made only after the BDA board approves the site. The layout will have its own railway station, a helipad, colleges and hospitals, he added.

Lal Bahadur Shastri Nagar

Later, Anil Shastri, MP and son of Lal Bahadur Shastri, accompanied by the Minister for Education, R. Ramalinga Reddy, and Mr. Vidyashankar visited Anjanapura Layout and its extension.

Mr. Vidyashankar said a dual pipe system for the layout has been completed. The roads will be paved soon, he added.

Tributes

Speaking at a programme to pay tributes to Lal Bahadur Shastri, the Chief Minister, N. Dharam Singh, said the Government has decided to rename Anjanapura Layout and the Alamatti Dam after Shastri as a tribute to the late leader.

The Chief Minister said a statue of Lal Bahadur Shastri will shortly be installed in the city. A spot between the Vidhana Soudha and the Vikas Soudha has been identified.

Anjanapura Layout, located in the southern part of the city, was developed by the BDA in 2001 with nearly 10,000 housing sites allotted till now.