The District Administration will pay Rs. 87.50 lakh per acre of land to be purchased from land owners atop Chamundi Hill to provide direct connectivity between Devikere and Multi-level Parking.

Deputy Commissioner D. Randeep fixed the amount after a discussion with land owners at his office here this morning. The distance between Devikere and Multi-level Parking is about 200 metres.

The authorities have identified a total of 5.27-acre land on which the road will be built to provide connectivity and also reserve some part of the land for further expansion of the Multi-level Parking in the years to come. Out of the identified land, 2 acres are “B Kharab” land and 3.27 acres have 15 owners as per the RTC.

The DC told the owners that the District Administration needed the land atop the hill and said that the administration will directly negotiate with the owners instead of going through a detailed and long-drawn land acquisition process.

The land owners demanded Rs. 1 crore per acre which was denied by the DC. Stating that the District Administration had paid Rs. 23 lakh per acre during the land acquisition in 2013, he added that the authorities could now pay only Rs. 79.50 lakh per acre as per the enhanced guidance value of the  State Government.

In reply, the owners said that the DC had powers to provide more than 20 percent of the guidance value and demanded Rs. 96 lakh per acre. Later, after several rounds of talks, the DC fixed Rs. 87.50 lakh per acre to which the owners agreed.

The land owners also demanded the authorities to allot them shops in the new shopping complex atop the hill and provide special entry to them and their families throughout the year.

The DC agreed to both the demands and instructed the Chamundi Hill Temple Executive Officer K.M. Prasad to make arrangements for special ID cards.

Additional Dy. Commissioner T. Venkatesh, Assistant Commissioner C.L. Ananda, Muzrai Tahsildar Yathiraj Sampathkumaran and Special Land Acquisition Officer Kusuma Kumari were present at the meeting.