BMP STUCK IN A ROADBLOCK

BMP STUCK IN A ROADBLOCK
UAS students and faculty allege the BBMP is taking away their land to lay a link road
DEBI PRASAD SARANGI


The proposed construction of a 7-km link road by Bruhat Bangalore Mahanagar Palike to connect NH-4 with NH-7 by acquiring 30 acres of land from the University of Agricultural Sciences has sparked protests by students and faculty members.
Nearly 1,500 students and faculty members of the university sat on an hourlong dharna on Thursday alleging that the BBMP is planning to encroach university property in the garb of constructing a link road. “BBMP’s proposal for the construction of link road on our land is not at all acceptable.
CONDITIONS UNACCEPTABLE
We can’t hand over 30 acres of land to BBMP. The board of management should authorise us to transfer the land. Without our permission, the BBMP started cutting trees and demarcating land on March 23. They have already chopped off hundreds of sapota trees and rare breeds of medicinal plants meant for research. Not only that, we have more than 3,000 trees - including mango and jack fruit - in that area. Everything will be destroyed if they get a go ahead for the project,” said a senior faculty member.
A microbiology professor said, “The Chief Minister took oath in the name of farmers. The research we are doing here is for the direct benefit of farmers of the state. How can BBMP ignore this fact and destroy the long preserved greenery of the university.”
BBMP NOT CONCERNED
The faculty allege that despite several rounds of talks, BBMP officials are not even concerned about the reserve forest inside the university campus. “As per the 1964 agreement, the UAS has to maintain a reserve forest area of 400 acres of land and BBMP officials are cutting trees without the permission of forest officials,” alleged a senior professor.
However, speaking to Bangalore Mirror, Virupaksha Mysore, joint commissioner, BBMP (Byatarayanapura zone) said, “This link road project comes under theComprehensive Development Plan of Bangalore City 2015. So we have to do it at any cost. The government had granted 1,600 acres of land to the university. The same government can take away some acres of land for the benefit of public. And as far as the issue of the reserve forest area is concerned, we will be careful about that.”