Sops to get PRR on fast track

Sops to get PRR on fast track

Farmers whose land is needed for the PRR are being offered a basket of incentives, including TDR, cash compensation and BDA sites

By Atul Chaturvedi
Posted On Wednesday, October 08, 2008

In a bid to kickstart the stalled Peripheral Ring Road (PRR) project, the Bangalore Development Authority (BDA) is offering sops in the form of transfer of development rights (TDR) with a higher floor area ratio (FAR) to persons whose land is required for the project.

BDA commissioner H Siddaiah said, “To prevent realtors cheating farmers, we are offering TDR with a higher FAR to land owners. Alternatively, we are offering full compensation in cash as well as a BDA site.” Siddaiah added that a sub-committee headed by BBMP commissioner S Subramanya would look into the issue of compensation. “The sub-committee will visit the locations where TDR can be offered to farmers who give their land free of cost,” he said.

Concession agreement

BDA has also formed a committee to work out the concession agreement for project contractors. The committee, headed by urban development principal secretary Jyotiramalingam, includes commissioners of BDA, BBMP and BWSSB, as well as BDA’s law officer and engineering member. “The committee will look into revenue models, including the toll system,” he said.

The BDA commissioner has emphasised that the project will not cause any damage to the Tippagondanahalli (T G Halli) reservoir as adequate precautions will be taken during the road-laying. Compensatory afforestation measures are currently in progress. In addition, an environmental impact study will also be carried out before starting work. Environmentalists had raised objections over the PRR alignment as eight km of the 65-km stretch under phase one (around 97 acres) pass through the catchment area of the reservoir.

The PRR circles the city at a radial distance of between 2.8 and 11.5 km from the existing Outer Ring Road. The project comprises a six-lane bi-directional carriageway with three lanes on each side. Once land acquisition is complete, the PRR will take an estimated 20 months to be constructed.

Global tenders

BDA will shortly invite global tenders for the 116-km project which requires 3,530 acres of land. The PRR project was first announced by the S M Krishna government. Since then, it has faced many hurdles. Earlier, during Governor’s rule, the Rs 3,000-crore project was handed over to the National Highways Authority of India (NHAI). But the Yeddyurappa government decided to take back the project from NHAI and asked BDA to execute it.

The project is a vital component in the plan to decongest city traffic as well as provide better connectivity to the international airport. The PRR connects Tumkur Road and Hosur Road via the Doddaballapur, Chikballapur and Old Madras roads. The acquisition of 1,810 acres is under way for the 65-km phase one of the project, between Tumkur Road, Old Madras Road and Hosur Road. So far, 21 writ petitions and a PIL have been filed against it. In the last four years, the PRR project has made very little progress. The project cost, which was Rs 550 crore, including the cost of land acquisition, in 2004, has now increased several fold.