Expressway work begins, local residents shocked

Expressway work begins, local residents shocked

Sharath S. Srivatsa

Villagers suspect foul play, many fear of losing their farmland



INTIMIDATION: Workers hired by KRDCL digging inside a home at Challekere to place marker stones for the expressway to the international airport at Devanahalli.

BANGALORE: Even as the authorities are going ahead with the expressway project connecting Outer Ring Road near Horamavu with the international airport at Devanahalli, residents of villages that come in the alignment of the expressway are voicing their suspicion over the manner in which it is executed.

Residents of Doddagubbi, Kyalasanahalli, Byrathi, Vaddarapalya, Challekare, Horamavu Agara and Bagalur villages on the outskirts of Bangalore on Thursday said that the Bangalore Metropolitan Region Development Authority (BMRDA) and Karnataka Road Development Corporation Ltd. (KRDCL) had started placing marker stones without issuing notices and without placing the alignment map in the public domain.

Even before these residents and farmers were served with notices, marker stones had been erected in the alignment and many houses had been marked.

Mary Mathew, who bought one fourth of an acre in August 2006, said: "I completed the house in January and now my house has been marked as Road on Work (ROW) on Wednesday. However, till date I have not been served any notice."

If the project had been approved, she asked, why did they allow the registration of the land in August. "When I bought the land, the BMRDA had announced a different alignment and the new alignment announced in March 2007 has come as a shock to us."

A resident of Bagalur, P. Prabhakur, who sought voluntary retirement from RBI to raise a farm, would lose his two-acre plot to the expressway. He said: "The BMRDA has not issued notices to either farmers or building owners. Many buildings and farms have come up in the last few years.

The authority should not have permitted these developments in the alignments."

Similarly, farmers Anjanappa and Basavegowda, who were set to lose their farmland in Bagalur and Chackleti villages, said the project would take away not only their livelihood but also homes. "What do we do with little compensation that the Government gives us?" Basavegowda asked.

"The authorities are putting markers forcibly and we have been asked not to remove them."