Red alert for land owners: BBMP wants your property for road widening

Red alert for land owners: BBMP wants your property for road widening

Krishnaprasad

45 roads in the city identified for widening under TDR scheme

Marking have become subject of speculation

Only 20 people have surrendered land under TDR

— Photo: K. Murali Kumar

For acquisition: The markings made by the BBMP indicating the stretch of the property required for road widening, on Bhagwan Mahaveer (Infantry) Road in Bangalore.

Bangalore: Overnight red paint markings on the compound walls of houses, shops and commercial complexes in the city have created fear among owners that their buildings would be demolished for road widening.

The markings have been made by the Bruhat Bangalore Mahanagara Palike (BBMP) indicating the length of the specific property in metres required for widening of the road.

The BBMP is in the process of making such markings on all properties on either side of about 45 roads identified for widening under the voluntary scheme called — Transfer of Development Right (TDR). The BBMP entrusted the work of surveying the properties on either side of these roads to a private firm in December 2007.

The stretch of each property required for widening of the road ranges between 0.5 metres (1.6 ft) to eight metres (26.2 ft) on either side.
45 roads notified

The BBMP, which is widening the Race Course Road and Bellary Road by persuading some owners to surrender small portions of their land under the TDR scheme, now plans to widen 45 prominent roads hoping that others will do likewise. Another 40 are on the list.

Some stretches of the prominent roads identified for widening under TDR are: Mission Road, Jayamahal Road (from Mekhri Circle to Cantonment Station), Dickenson Road, Old Madras Road, HAL Airport Road, Cottonpet Main Road, Avenue Road, Mysore Road, K.R. Road, Chamarajpet 1st Main, Bull Temple Road via N.R. Colony, K.G. Road (from Mysore Bank circle to Elite Hotel junction), Hennur Road (Pottery Road to Ring Road), Magadi Road (KHB Colony to Ring Road), Bhagwan Mahaveer (Infantry) Road (Ali Askar Road junction to Main Guard Road), Kasturba Road (Siddalingaiah Circle to Queen’s statue).

The marking on the walls has already become a subject of intense speculation among the residents and business community. Many feel the move will have a huge impact on the people of all classes as many are set to lose their offices, shops, homes and their livelihood. “Avenue Road will be without any shops as 22 feet of land on either side required for widening will erase all shops, rendering lakhs of people jobless,” pointed out a member of Federation of Karnataka Chambers of Commerce and Industry.

If people decide to surrender their property for road widening, many prominent buildings, including recently built apartments, office complexes and decades-old structures will have to be razed either partially or totally.
What is TDR?

Under the TDR scheme, the property owners can have an additional built up area in lieu of the area relinquished or surrendered to the BBMP.

This extra built up area (given in the form of Development Rights Certificate) may be used by the owners either for themselves — on the remaining portion of the land or for land owned by them in other parts of the city — or they can sell the rights to others.

The land owners will not be given any monetary compensation under this scheme.

Though the TDR was introduced in 2005, so far only 20 establishments and individuals have surrendered land for road widening — mainly during widening of Race Course Road and Bellary Road — and have obtained Development Rights Certificates.

TDR, on the lines of Mumbai, Chennai and Hyderabad, has been introduced to avoid legal wrangles over compulsory acquisition of land.
Acquisition

The BBMP has the power to acquire land under regular acquisition proceedings without giving the benefit of additional built up area if the land owner does not voluntarily surrender the land under TDR scheme.