Connectivity spurs realty development

Connectivity spurs realty development
The major road infrastructure projects around the city are leading to industrial and residential development, says Leena Mudbidri


The distance between Bangalore and Mysore is virtually growing shorter with connectivity infrastructure making great strides on both sides. The Government of Karnataka's initiatives based on the public-private partnership model has seen a range of successful projects being completed in record time, including the four-laning of the existing State Highway No 17 passing through Kengeri, Bidadi, Ramanagaram, Chennapatna, Maddur, Mandya and Srirangapatna.
The dusty two-lane carriageway from Bangalore to Maddur was developed into a sleek, four-lane highway within a span of 21 months and was thrown open to traffic with all the four-lanes fully operational. The 62-km stretch sports medians with colourful, all season flowering plants providing a visual treat to drivers. The highway stretch has been developed in conformation to standards set by the National Highways Authority of India (NHAI) and the Indian Road Congress (IRC). Appointed with stateof-the-art street furniture including traffic signals, bus shelters and reflectors, the new Bangalore-Maddur stretch promises to take the fatigue out of driving to Mysore.
Connectivity
The proposed Peripheral Ring Road (PRR) will be the vital link in the connectivity to the new international airport in Devanahalli with the other radial roads in the city, especially those within the North and East zones. In its course around the city, the PRR will connect with all the highways and radial roads at several junctions at villages dotting these roads.
Phase I of the PRR, a 65-km stretch, will run around the city linking Hosur Road in Bangalore South to Tumkur Road in Bangalore North.
The Phase II, spread across 51 km, will connect Bangalore South to the West. This stretch will cross Kanakapura Road, Mysore Road and Magadi Road.
Realty boom around
townships on cards
The focus of the realty scene will be on the periphery with five integrated thematic townships coming up in Kengeri, Bidadi, Ramanagaram, Chennapatna and Maddur. The concept of integrated townships being promoted wherever 40 hectares or more of land is available for development with access to roads which are 18 metres wide or more, is expected to encourage the 'walk-to-work' culture especially in the peripheral areas.
Each of these townships will be built around a specific theme according to sources in the Bangalore Metropolitan and Rural Development Authority (BMRDA). Currently Bidadi Township has been earmarked as an IT centre. Ramanagaram which is a proposed heritage hub will also be an IT centre if the demand from the Bidadi Township spills over. The others will be allocated depending on the demand.
Being away from the developed zones, the new satellite towns will focus on commercial development and stress will be on improving the local economy by creating more employment opportunities for the people living around these areas.
These satellite towns will have broad interior roads, power, water, sanitation, rain water harvesting facilities along with sewage water treatment plant and solid waste processing unit.
A large integrated leisurecum-entertainment unit in Bidadi sports a residential area with villas and apartments, a retail segment for shopping and a commercial component with film studios and a film institute as well. Residential development has been proposed over 14 acres of the project area, and an IT Park will be spread across four acres.
Residential development along the belt is characterised by large public and private residential plotted layouts. Residential developments have been proposed by Karnataka Housing Board at Kengeri and Mandya.
Residential
development
The BDA has planned five major residential layouts along the Peripheral Ring Road route to meet the housing requirements of a growing population of Bangalore city. A total of 1.74 lakh sites have been planned.
In Phase I of the PRR the layouts earmarked are Dr Shivarama Karanth Layout, D Devaraj Urs Layout, S Nijalingappa Layout and K C Reddy Layout.
Phase II of the PRR will have the Nadaprabhu Kempegowda Layout which has been envisaged to be a model one on which the other four layouts will be based. The layouts will also have 60,000 flats specially for the economically weaker sections. A senior official in the Land Acquisition (LA) section of the BDA says that of the five layouts, the Kempegowda Layout was the first one to be approved under Master Plan 2015 and has now been notified. It will be developed at a cost of Rs 2,639 crores. The layout will be formed across 4,814 acres and 15 guntas of land and will include 12 villages in Bangalore West, between Magadi Road and Mysore Road.
Each of the layouts will be self-sustained and will have both residential and commercial establishments. There will be bus and taxi terminals in each layout for better commuting facilities. All public amenities like parks, roads, playgrounds, etc as well as educational institutions and healthcare facilities will feature in these residential areas making them completely selfcontained. The roads within the layouts will connect with the service roads linking to the PRR.
Commercial realty
Last month, the High Level Clearance Committee (HLC) of Karnataka Udyoga Mitra, which has been the conduit for single window clearance and implementation of industrial projects in the state, cleared 16 industrial projects which included manufacturing units for diverse products.
Bidadi Industrial Area under Ramanagaram district, Dobbespet Industrial Area and Somapura Industrial Area in Nelamangala Taluk have been earmarked for manufacturing units for the automobile industry. The KIADB is on its way to acquiring 442 acres of land here for auto industries. These units will manufacture automotive parts and sheet metal-pressed auto components, trailers and bus body building and assembling.
The proposal from a frontranking firm to set up a special economic zone (SEZ) in the textile and apparel sector at Doddamanugudde in Ramanagaram district over an area of 150 acres, has received in-principle approval. A pharma company is also planning a Rs 165 crores campus on 200 acres of land in Bidadi, where it plans to set up an R&D centre.
Harohalli in Kanakapura district will have small industries manufacturing coils, transformers and inductors, as well as pharmaceutical formation products. Preliminary notification has been issued for acquisition of 50 acres of land at Hosahalli in Anekal Taluk for a hi-tech weaving park at a cost of Rs 42 crores. The KIADB has also identified 125 acres of land at Harisandra Village in Ramanagaram district for the setting up of a textile park
The many textile and apparel parks coming up on the Kanakapura Road, townships slated for development along the route, expansive residential layouts, hectic industrial activity, resorts and entertainment parks in the vicinity, have all added to the investment value around the Bangalore-Mysore Highway.