Monorail on track, 2 firms shortlisted

Monorail on track, 2 firms shortlisted
TIMES NEWS NETWORK

Bangalore: Some good news for Bangaloreans: things seem to be moving on the Monorail front. The state government has shortlisted two companies to carry out consultancy services for implementation of the project.
Coming in the backdrop of commencement of Metro Rail work, Monorail will ensure additional connectivity for the traffic-stressed city by acting as feeder channels for Metro Rail.
Chief minister H D Kumaraswamy on Tuesday told the legislative assembly that one of the shortlisted companies would be finalised and the process of appointing consultant would be completed by August-end.
The CM said four routes had been identified for Monorail: Route 1 (Kanakapura Road - Ring Road - Mysore Road - Katriguppe - National College - South Metro corridor); Route 2 (Bannerghatta National Park - Bannerghatta Road - Adugodi); Route 3 (Mysore Road - Ring Road - Magadi Road - Tumkur Road) and Route 4 (Tumkur Road - Ring Road - Bellary Road).
These apart, the government will shortly commence work on the expressway that would connect the city central area with the upcoming international airport at Devanahalli. A total of 620 acres would be acquired for the project, Kumaraswamy said. CHUGGING ALONG Over 90% Of Land Losers Agree To Compensation R Jayaprakash | TNN
Looks like it’s going to be a smooth take-off for Metro Rail. After the initial hiccups over land acquisition, things are going the BMRC’s way with around 100 of 112 property owners finally agreeing to comply with Bangalore’s biggest infrastructure project.
More than 90 per cent of landowners and tenants who will lose land to Reach I of the project — 7-km stretch connecting MG Road and Byappanahalli — agreed to the compensation proposed by the Bangalore Metro Rail Corporation (BMRC). It is a win-win situation for both the owners and BMRC, which can proceed with acquisitions without litigation and compensation at replacement cost.
“The response has been overwhelming from land losers. After the initial hesitation, more than 90 per cent have agreed to the package. Now that we have added replacement cost to the earlier package, we took four to five sittings with the owners to convince them. Only two cases are pending,’’ BMRC MD V Madhu said.
The BMRC has valued all the 112 properties and billing valuation is under way. Around 614 properties are being acquired. The icing on the cake is the replacement cost, which is more than market value. While market value of an old property is sum total of cost of land and building minus depreciation, the replacement cost is cost of property without depreciation.
The three-pronged compensation package will be: replacement cost, a solatium of 30 per cent of the capital value and 12 per cent interest rate payable per annum along with increase in FAR. In cases where the damage is more than 50 per cent, the BMRC has moved the government to seek support from the BDA. Currently, the BMRC has blocked 150 commercial outlets and requested the state to facilitate allotment of BDA sites on priority. Earlier, CMH Road traders had objected to land acquisition and had even met the chief minister to oppose the CMH Road alignment. But protests faded after the tempting compensation.
rjay.prakash@timesgroup.com
THE PACKAGE
A three-pronged compensation package ranging from Rs 1,884/sqft to Rs 10,593/sqft, on a par with market value plus replacement cost Land-losers to get an additional amount — 30% of market value of property; 12% interest rate payable per annum as the preliminary notification for land acquisition was issued in January 2006 and going by the argument that property owners couldn’t transact on their holdings for the past year because of the notification Additional FAR for owners, who stand to lose less than 50% of the property Authorities have earmarked Rs 600 crore for compensation package 642 properties on 228 acres to be acquired; 1,500 families will be relocated