An acre around Peripheral Ring Road can fetch Rs 70 lakh!

An acre around Peripheral Ring Road can fetch Rs 70 lakh!
The Times of India

Bangalore: This is perhaps the highest compensation ever being paid for land acquisition for a government project in Bangalore — Peripheral Ring Road (PRR). This apart, the project has also sent the land prices in the areas around the PRR skyrocketing.

The BDA has notified nearly 3,800 acres of land for the 114-km road that cuts through 106 villages. The preliminary notification for land acquisition has triggered a flurry of activities in these otherwise sleepy villages.

As a rule, the BDA’s compensation package is always in tune with the guidance value of properties that exists when the preliminary notification is issued.

Since the guidance value was revised in October last year — increasing property value by 110 per cent in the city’s peripheral areas — the compensation package will also be higher. It will range between Rs 15 lakh and Rs 70 lakh per acre. Land in villages in Bangalore east, Tumkur road and Whitefield command the highest compensation as the guidance value here is also high.

The compensation paid to land owners in Arkavathy layout ranged between Rs 10 lakh and Rs 20 lakh per acre depending on the location. Similarly, the highest compensation paid to land owners for the Devanahalli international airport project was around Rs 15 lakh per acre.

“The land acquisition notification has increased the land prices in these villages as construction of a road encourages development and thus enhances the market value. What was Rs 20 lakh per acre a few months ago has shot upto Rs 50 lakh per acre,’’ officials explained.

Official sources told The Times of India that of the Rs 1,700 crore estimated for the project, Rs 735 has been allocated towards paying compensation.

With real estate prices in areas coming under the higher-end compensation package sky-rocketing, farmers are being lured by land developers to sell properties for a price higher than the BDA compensation. For instance, in some of the villages cutting through Tumkur road, where land has been notified, an acre costs Rs 1.2 crore per acre whereas the BDA’s compensation will be about Rs 70 lakh per acre.

“Despite the notification, the developers are bringing pressure on farmers to sell their properties. This will leave the farmer in a confused state as the lure of the money will be hard to resist. During the final notification, these developers lobby to get that chunk of land deleted from the acquisition,’’ officials added.
The BDA has issued preliminary notification for land acquisition in two phases — first phase of 63.4 km connecting Tumkur road-Old Madras road-Hosur road; the second phase of 50 km connecting Hosur road-Mysore road-Tumkur road. The final notification for phase I will be approved shortly.

RING ROAD FEATURES
* The radius will be 115 kms and will be situated 6-8 kms away from the existing outer ring road. It will connect Hosur-Mysore-Magadi-Tumkur roads.
* The eight-lane dual two carriageway will be 100 metres wide; will have a buffer zone running parallel to the entire length of the carriageway.
* The PRR will include 12 steel flyovers and underpasses at intersections.
* Estimated project cost is Rs 1,700 crore.
* PRR has been designed keeping the next 30 years’ traffic increase in view. The carriageway can be expanded upto 22 lanes.