BDA flouts own rules, builds road near TG Halli reservoir
Although Tippagondanahalli reservoir, which once catered to the drinking water needs of entire Bangalore.
Bangalore: Although Tippagondanahalli reservoir, which once catered to the drinking water needs of entire Bangalore, has been
earmarked as ‘no development zone’, the BDA is flouting its own order by acquiring land for first eight kilometres of Peripheral Ring Road (PRR) in three villages. The road also cuts through forest area, alleged residents of Venkatala.
The supply of drinking water from the Tippagondanahalli reservoir has come down due to rampant encroachment in the catchment area. Farmers said no activity other than agriculture must be allowed in the eco-sensitive zone. If the PRR is allowed, it will give rise to large-scale commercial activities and urbanisation would have a negative impact on the reservoir and create an ecological imbalance.
The alignment of the Peripheral Ring Road (PRR) has been changed to benefit people who have political clout and money power, the residents alleged. Due to the BDA’s high handedness in changing the alignment, scores of people are suffering from losing their land and displacement, they added.
After waging Right to Information (RTI) battle against the BDA, several vital documents have been collected. The BDA project executing agency has not maintained transparency be it in the process of acquiring land, changing the alignment, denotifying the land and the legal cases filed by the land owners, said Shankarappa, an RTI activist.
The BDA’s decision to shrink the road width to 70 metres from 100 metres to issue compensation to those who stand to lose land with higher Floor Area Ratio (FAR) will encourage urbanisation, affecting the values of sensitive zone, he added.
Indian Resources Information and Management Techlogies Ltd (INRIMIT) has done a detailed study on the alignment and submitted details in four compact disks. But, transparency has been given a go-by and land acquisition has been done according to the whims and fancies of the BDA land acquisition authorities, Shankarappa alleged.
“The alignment of the PRR has been changed for 43.3 kms at five places based on the oral instructions of the commissioner. Huge tracts of land have been denotified to benefit people with political clout. But they have not cared for gullible people, whose houses have been acquired and pushed on the roads,” he said.
The BDA officials even dodged to provide information under RTI. The villagers had to knock at the doors of appellate authority, Karnataka Information to obtain details, he added.
