The Bangalore Development Authority’s (BDA) decision to make the Peripheral Ring Road (PRR) elevated and integrate it with a metro line to cut land acquisition costs has been criticised by several urban experts as ‘myopic’.
They argue that the corridor, which will be tolled, will only function as a path for ‘through traffic’ and will not lead to a planned development of the area around PRR. It is critical to develop the area around the PRR to prevent further congestion, say urban planners.
The Draft Revised Master Plan – 2031 provides for Floor Area Ratio of 4 and Special Development Zones along the PRR to accommodate the population growth of the city. “It also lays stress on a transit corridor development model, none of which can be achieved if PRR is elevated and access controlled,” said an urban planner who worked with the draft plan.
‘Poor copy’
A former BDA official also shared a similar view. “An elevated PRR will only make it a poor copy of NICE Road, which has not spurred any area development along the highway,” the official said.
V. Ravichandar, former member, BBMP Restructuring Committee, said that taking the elevated route would be a lost opportunity that the city will regret later. “People will move to areas with social infrastructure like schools, hospitals, apart from jobs. The PRR is a great opportunity to accommodate the new population. At least one kilometre on either side of the road should be declared an impact zone and be developed,” he said.
However, the problem of land acquisition costs, which held the project from being implemented for nearly two decades, remains. Acquiring 1,920 acres for the 65 km PRR is estimated to cost over ₹8,200 crore as per The Right to Fair Compensation and Transparency in Land Acquisition, Rehabilitation and Resettlement Act, 2013, a bill that successive State governments have found impossible to foot. It is this cost that has prompted the BDA to take the elevated route.
Alternative options
The Karnataka Town and Country Planning Act, 1961, provides for alternatives like town planning and land pooling schemes that will reduce land acquisition costs to zero. Though Karnataka was one of the first States to bring these innovative schemes as part of law, the State has not implemented them in any project to date. Incidentally, the model has been successfully adopted in Amaravati, Ahmedabad Ring Road and several other projects across the country.
Rejeet Mathews, head, urban development, WRI India, had presented the State government these alternative options in 2016. She said these schemes were a win-win for both landowners and the government and would lead to planned development along the highway as well.
Under the Town Planning Scheme, an impact zone is notified along either side of the highway in which all landowners give up land, and get parcels of commercially developed plots along the highway in return. Their value will be several times more than the land they give up.
However, senior officials feel with 1,920 acres notified for over a decade and a half now, there is a big trust deficit between BDA and farmers.