Residents cry foul over road alignment

Residents cry foul over road alignment
TIMES NEWS NETWORK

Bangalore: Residents of Bagalur, Bhairathi, Chikka Gubbi and Dodda Gubbi, who are likely to be affected by the BMRDA-proposed 21-km expressway project linking Devanahalli airport, have threatened to demonstrate in front of the chief minister’s house.
Seeking realignment of the route, secretary of Kyalasanahalli Building Owners’ Association, Gopal, on Saturday said many farmers will be displaced by the project and several others will have their lands bifurcated.
“We are not against the expressway, but are opposed to the existing alignment as it passes through inhabited areas and farmlands,” he said. He alleged that officials were misleading the government and that the survey work done by the consultants was faulty.
“At several places, the survey shows vacant land in place of houses. Several farmers have taken loans to build dairy and poultry farms and the expressway alignment has come as a shock to marginal farmers,” he said.
According to N Hemchandra of the association, the earlier survey done by RITES through satellite imagery should have been retained, as the route would affect only three villages and cost around Rs 300 crore. As per the latest survey, the route will pass through seven villages and will cost around Rs 500 crore.