Avenue Road widening gets a push

Avenue Road widening gets a push
Monday June 23 2008 09:44 IST

Sriram V

This marking on Avenue Road was made by the engineering team for the new alignment for widening of the City’s oldest street.

BANGALORE: Avenue Road, one of the City’s oldest prime commercial hubs, is in for a drastic makeover with the Bruhat Bangalore Mahanagara Palike’s (BBMP) planning to widen it.

The area along the 1.1 km stretch was recently surveyed to identify land required for the new alignment and the road widening plan.

According to the alignment plan, the road from K R Market to Mysore Bank junction, presently measuring 4.8 mt to 7.5 mt, will be uniformly increased to 24 mt.

Apart from the footpath, the additional width required is 5.5 mt to 6.7 mt on both sides.

According to Avenue Road Merchants Association, these few metres would mean the loss of livelihood for thousands employed here.

Association convenor Shridhar said that over 5,000 traders and one lakh employees will be directly affected by the project.

However, BBMP Commissioner S Subramanya told this website's newspaper: "Avenue Road is a vital stretch connecting Bangalore South to the centre of the city. The new alignment plan will decongest traffic, ensuring smooth traffic flow."

Shridhar counter argues that congestion could be solved with minor corrections and a little road widening.

The BBMP will soon issue individual notices to shop owners, indicating the land required for widening.

Subramanya said: "Building owners should use the Transfer of Development Rights (TDR) scheme, failing which the BBMP will resort to compulsory acquisition."

As per TDR, the owners of properties along the alignment will have to give up the land, in lieu of which they will be given a Development Rights Certificate (DRC), to obtain land elsewhere.

Building owners will be able to claim land 1.5 times of the area surrendered. But this clearly is not the solution.

Srinivas Murthy, gift store owner on Avenue road, said: "If any compensation is given, it will be only for the owners. What about tenants who have been doing business here for years? We will have nowhere to go."