One-member panel to appraise land for Metro

One-member panel to appraise land for Metro
The Times of India

Bangalore: The value of land lost to the Bangalore Metro Rail project will be determined by just one man — retired civil servant P S S Thomas.
The Bangalore Metro Rail Corporation, BMRC, will soon appoint an independent committee to look into the land valuation for the properties that will be razed down for the Metro Rail to chug. Presently, the land valuation committee will have just one member — P S S Thomas — who however can appoint others if he chose to.

The selection of Thomas was finalised after BMRC’s other choice M B Prakash fell through. Prakash was reportedly reluctant to take it up, and subsequently, he was appointed as Karnataka Pay Commission chairman in place of Gopal Reddy. Thomas has agreed and his appointment order will be issued in the next couple of days.

BMRC sources say the committee has been approved by the Board. Such an independent committee was necessitated by the fact that BMRC does not have a special Land Acquisition Officer.

A retired bureaucrat and a former Union Planning Commission secretary, Thomas has an arduous task ahead, appraising properties on CMH Road at Indiranagar and Mahakavi Kuvempu Road. Rajajinagar-Malleswaram is no mean task given the kind of resistance residents and traders have been putting up.
BMRC sources explain that the committee is responsible for valuing the land and determining the market value. Different evaluations need to be made for different properties — a 30x40 property at MKK Road has a market value different from a similar one at CMH Road — across Bangalore.
A comprehensive report is slated to be submitted to the BMRC in 45 days. Based on these submissions, the BMRC will award compensation under the provisions of Sec 29(a) Karnataka Land Acquisition Act — Land Acquisition by Consent.

Incidentally, Thomas in the recent past, also headed another independent committee to review Bangalore citizenry’s suggestions and complaints against the Bangalore Development Authority’s masterplan — the Comprehensive Development Plan.