Bengaluru: It took central BJP ministers and state Congress ministers a little less than 30 minutes to put an end to land disputes that had hobbled development projects in the city’s military areas for forty years!
The most important fall-out of their discussion on Thursday was that the Army immediately ended its “siege” of four schools in J.C. Nagar, dismantling the tents it had put up over three acres of land, and with it an implicit threat that the schools would be shut down.
Army men remove tents, exit the JC Nagar Government School and PU College premises.
It was all thanks to Defence Minister Manohar Parikkar, who was in the city to inaugurate a conference on strategic electronics. That done, Mr Parikkar, accompanied by his Cabinet colleague from the state, Sadananda Gowda, and Army officials, met state Transport minister Ramalinga Reddy, Chief Secr-etary Arvind Jadhav, BBMP Commissioner Manjunath Prasad and others. A source privy to the discussions said M. Parikkar said, “the Army will not shut down any school and will not jeopardize the future of children.”
“He directed Army officials to either lease out the land to the schools or give up the Army's claims over the three acres that was in dispute,” the source said.
Now, all these can be done!
- Railway Over Bridge in Byappanahalli
- Widening of Lashker-Hosur Road.
- Redoing footpath on Old Airport road
- Widening of Murphy Road, Dicken-son Road, Victoria Road, Hosmat Hospital Road
- Ejipura Inner Road connecting Sarjapur Road
- Koramangala Ring Road
- Banasawadi Railway Over Bridge
400 acres in lieu of 38!
In exchange for the 38 acres of Defence land in the city that the military agreed to give up to smooth the road for infrastructure projects, the state government has agreed to allocate 400 acres of land elsewhere in the state, including in Anekal on the city's outskirts, sources said.
30 mins to end 40-year standoff!
Although the BBMP and the state government had requested the meeting mainly to resolve the J.C. Nagar schools issue, the discussion soon turned to the many city projects that had been held up for decades. Mr Parikkar accepted most of the demands, promising to free up 38 acres of Defence land in the city through out-of-court settlements. “The meeting lasted barely half an hour, with Mr Parikkar agreeing to part with 38 acres of land at the earliest. Army officials were given directions during the meeting to facilitate the transfer of land. Barring the Railway over Bridge (RoB) in C.V. Raman Nagar, all other proposals were instantly approved,” sources said. In return, the state will allot some 400 acres of land for the military elsewhere in the state, including in Anekal on the city’s outskirts.
