Bengaluru/Mysuru – The Bruhat Bengaluru Mahanagara Palike (BBMP) has put out a notification for issuing Transferable Development Right (TDR) to the erstwhile royal family of Mysuru against acquisition of a portion of Palace Grounds. With this, the BBMP has paved way for widening of Ballari Road from Windsor Manor Junction to Mehkri Circle and Jayamahal Road.

The State Government and the BBMP had initially insisted that the royal family members be given monetary compensation for acquisition of 13.1 acres of Palace Grounds based on the guidance value on the day the final land acquisition notification was issued. But the amount was paltry given the prime location of the land.

The royal family later demanded TDR and the dispute went to the Supreme Court, which ruled in the their favour.

The BBMP requires a total of 15.39 acres, of which 13.10 acres are owned by the royal family members. The land belongs to the late Srikantadatta Narasimharaja Wadiyar and his wife Dr. Pramoda Devi, his sisters Meenakshi Devi, Kamakshi Devi, Indrakshi Devi and some other relatives.

According to the BBMP, the royal family will be the first beneficiaries of the revised TDR scheme where the value of development rights has been increased to twice the total area to be acquired, from the existing 1.5 times.

“As per old rules, the royal family members would have got TDR certificates worth Rs. 1,800 crore for the land that they are parting with at Palace Grounds. Under the new TDR rules notified in March this year, the TDR certificate value translates to about Rs. 2,400 crore, as the land owners shall receive twice the area of land surrendered, in lieu of monetary compensation,” a senior BBMP official said.

As per the new TDR rules, property losers will have the option to either accept TDRs or take monetary compensation. With the BBMP notification, the road between Windsor Manor junction and Mehkri Circle which is a major traffic bottleneck now will be widened.

The State Government had shelved land acquisition for road widening and had decided to build a steel flyover instead. But now that the steel flyover project has been scrapped, road-widening remains the only option. The Supreme Court as well as the High Court of Karnataka had directed the Government to go ahead with the land acquisition.