Arkavathy Layout work to resume today

Arkavathy Layout work to resume today

The Hindu

Project cost estimated to increase by 10 to 15 per cent

# Work will begin in over 1,640 acres of land spread over 22 packages
# BDA yet to take possession of 220 acres of land
# Letters to short-listed applicants to be issued from Wednesday

BANGALORE: After an eight-month halt, work is all set to resume on the 20,000-site Arkavathy Layout from Wednesday. The work will begin in over 1,640 acres of land spread over 22 packages.

The Bangalore Development Authority (BDA) is yet to take possession of 220 acres of land and the High Court has granted owners of 798 acres of land 90 days time to decide what they would like to do with their property.

As a first step, a BDA Executive Engineer says the dense overgrowth in the region will be cut down. Since April this year, work on the layout has come to a complete standstill. "The vegetation in the region has really become dense, it will take us a day to cut it down and level the area again," says the engineer.

A few patches of the roads will also be re-laid on priority basis, the engineer says. "Because of the heavy rains, a few patches of roads have been damaged and many storm water drains are clogged. We will take care of these first."

The BDA completed over 40 per cent of the work before the single judge order in April questioned its authority in land acquisition. Over 54.8 crores had been spent in the first phase of the work that involved road formation, laying of storm water drains and culverts, erection of site area border stones and signage. To all practical purposes, the layout would have been ready to be occupied by now, but for the legal and other hurdles that had to be overcome. For the allottees, the delay may well mean having to spend more for their homes.

A BDA official says the project cost is estimated to go up by 10 to 15 per cent because of the repairs that the BDA has to undertake and the extra compensation that they have to pay the contractors.

The BDA hopes to issue the letters to the 20,000 short-listed applicants from Wednesday. The allotment committee met on Tuesday to decide the issue.