The long-awaited Peripheral Ring Road (PRR) in Bengaluru finally took a step forward after the release of Rs 4,500 crores was approved to pay farmers in compensation for land acquisition, in a cabinet meeting on Monday, according to reports.
The PRR is a 65-kilometer road project with a width of 100 meters that will connect Tumkuru Road and Hosur Road via Old Madras Road and Ballari Road.
Following the cabinet meeting, Minister of Rural Development, Law and Parliamentary Affairs Krishna Byre Gowda spoke to the media and said, “The cost of building the road can be recovered through a toll, but the cost of land acquisition is too high, which is why the project was stalled. We tried novel ways, like town planning and land pooling, but nothing worked. It is inevitable for the PRR to be built so that government will bear the entire cost of land acquisition.” He also added the project which will span across 1,810 acres of land.
Krishna Byre Gowda further added that once the PRR project was complete, a significant amount of the traffic entering the city would be cut down.
The PRR will be planned out by the Bangalore Development Authority (BDA), which is planning to take different approaches to decrease costs pertaining to the land acquisition.
Earlier in 2005, the government had issued notices to landowners regarding the acquisition of land for the project. While the total estimate of the project is estimated to be around 17,000 crore rupees, 4,500 crore rupees has been allocated for land acquisition alone, reports say.
Further, it has been reported that the BDA has put out tenders seeking advice regarding the project and would begin the same shortly. The government also plans to approach the Japan International Cooperation Agency to seek a loan as well as bounce the idea of a ‘public-private partnership.’