Snaking along some of the least developed areas of the city, Tannery Road has become synonymous with the travesties of unplanned development: a narrow dusty road with non-existent footpath and shops jostling for space. This is all set to change as two large civic projects will turn it into a gateway to Kempegowda International Airport.
While Phase II of Namma Metro will run through the length of the road and will include three stations, the Bruhat Bengaluru Mahanagara Palike (BBMP) has taken a significant step towards the long-delayed project of widening a 4.5-km stretch of the road.
On Wednesday, the civic body gave nearly 498 property owners 20 days to furnish documents as part of the land acquisition process. With the new Transfer Development Rights (TDR) in force, which will give owners nearly twice the value of the land, BBMP hopes to acquire more than 22,850 sq.m., a majority from private land-owners.
Widening the road will also facilitate construction of underground metro stations.
While the metro will end at Nagawara till the line is extended to the airport, the widening of Tannery Road will allow motorists from east Bengaluru to access Thanisandra Main Road, which is being developed as the alternative road to the international airport.
Officials expect the process of land acquisition to be smooth.
“We have managed to convince property owners in multiple meetings. People realise that this is a project that will change the face of the area,” said Sampath Raj, councillor, D.J. Halli.
The meetings with traders and residents, who had initially opposed the project due to ‘inadequate’ compensation had begun in 2015.
“Most of the buildings are old, and rentals are low. Owners are quite eager to give up land considering that rentals are bound to increase dramatically once the road is widened,” said Manjunath Prasad, Commissioner, BBMP.
He claimed that once the land is handed over to the civic body, widening of the road would be competed in a year.
Underground Metro stretch
It is going to be a lot of chaos before the calm on the congested Tannery Road. Both BBMP and BMRCL hope to start work by the end of the year.
Last week, BMRCL called tenders for construction of the 13.8-km underground stretch from Dairy Circle to Nagavara. The stretch will have three stations — Tannery Road, Venkateshapura and Arabic College.
While civil works are expected to start in a year, land acquisition is in the initial stages. “We have identified a mixture of open space and government property to reduce the number of private land to be acquired for our stations. We do not see a problem in land acquisition,” said a BMRCL official.