Plaza to be acquired for elevated Metro station

Plaza to be acquired for elevated Metro station
Deccan Herald

The landmark of the past - Plaza Theatre - will soon become the face of the future. The theatre on M G Road, that exchanged hands last March to make way for a shopping mall, will now be acquired for a metro station on the East-West Corridor under the Bangalore Metro project.

The theatre premises, that used to be a venue for ball dances for English soldiers in 1930s, will be developed into an elevated station on M G Road. Preliminary notification for the 1,534 sq metres property was issued by the KIADB on January 17.

According to sources, 67 persons had jointly purchased the property from Niranjan Narrain whose great grandfather Arcot Narrain Swamy Mudaliar originally acquired the land in 1900. The property was registered in September 2005.

Incidentally, sources add that the registration should not have been allowed, as a Government Order had been given in February 2004 stating that the property was earmarked for the Bangalore Metro. However, the Bangalore Mahanagara Palike did not sanction the new plan of constructing a mall.

The affected parties have been given time till February 17 for filing objections, following which a personal hearing will be held for two weeks.

The KIADB, that is taking the ‘consent awardee’ route, will finalise the compensation amount after the hearings.

Approached

Sources revealed that the developers have approached Bangalore Metro Rail Corporation (BMRC) for a joint partnership over the property, where they will develop commercial and retail outlets at the station premises.

The Plaza Theatre will be the only prime property acquired on M G Road. The KIADB and Bangalore Metro Rail Corporation had earlier planned to acquire seven properties, which included Vimal Chambers, Deepam, Gangaram and Higgin Bothams bookstores, but the plan was redesigned following objections from shop-owners.

Vacant land around Nalli Silks and 17 metres of land that was earlier Lido theatre will be acquired for the Trinity Circle station.

Meanwhile, the acquisition of properties for Old Madras Road to 100 Feet Road curve, Indiranagar 100 Feet Road station, Indiranagar 100 Feet Road to CMH Road curve, CMH Road Station and CMH Road-SV Road curve are subject to the recommendations of Justice K Shivshankar Bhat Committee constituted by the government.