BIA road: BBMP plays favourites

BIA road: BBMP plays favourites
BY CHANDRASHEKAR G.
BENGALURU







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BBMP has alleged ly favoured two private concerns by not including their properties for acquisition in the widening of Bellary Road.

The project to widen the road to BIA under transferable development rights (TDR) mode has been taken up on a priority basis. But an activist has claimed that BBMP has acquired all the properties it needed to but, for reasons best known to Palike officials, chose to not to acquire Le Meridien and Prestige Abshot.

After BBMP initiated steps to acquire the official residence of law minister S. Suresh Kumar and the Karnataka High Court Chief Justice on Bellary Road but did not issue a notice to Le Meridien and Prestige Abshot, the activist, S. Amaresh, acquired through the Right to Information Act details of BBMP’s project.

Information provided by BBMP revealed that there was no uniformity in property acquisition. The road in front of the minister’s residence is 31.38M wide and it is 27.13M in front of the Chief Justice’s residence. In contrast, the road in front of Prestige Abshot and Le Meridien measures 24.08M and 24.52Mrespectively — both potential traffic bottlenecks in what will otherwise be a wide expressway.

“Why should there be disparity in acquiring lands for road widening?” asked Mr Amaresh. “If these two properties are not acquired, owners of properties that have been taken for road widening can approach the court asking that their land also be exempted,” he said.

“The compound wall in front of the Le Meridien could have been acquired and demolished. The demolition would not have posed any threat. Since the BBMP offers TDR, additional structures could have been constructed in the hotel,” Mr Amaresh said.

BBMP chief engineer (major roads) K.S. Krishna Reddy said the acquisition has been according to the design plan.

What is TDR?

A person whose property is acquired can either use the additional built-up area in the plot or trade the TDR along with a development rights certificate (DRC) in the market.