The Hindu : Karnataka / Bangalore News : Metro: tenants pay the price as landlords cede property

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Saturday, Mar 21, 2009
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Metro: tenants pay the price as landlords cede property

Anil Kumar Sastry

Nearly 650 traders on Mahakavi Kuvempu Road have been displaced

— Photo: Sampath Kumar G.P.

Heavy price?: A view of Mahakavi Kuvempu Road at Rajajinagar in Bangalore. The stretch looks bare after trees were axed and buildings razed to start work on Namma Metro.

BANGALORE: Mahakavi Kuvempu Road (MKK Road), the lifeline of Rajajinagar — one of the oldest residential areas of the city — is not the same anymore. The road now looks awfully bare and wide after several trees — many of them massive and decades old — were axed and hundreds of buildings razed to the ground between Chord Road Junction and Devaiah Park for the Namma Metro project.

It is not just felled trees and razed buildings: fortunes of hundreds of businesspersons, most of them small-time traders who had been doing business ever since Rajajinagar came into existence, have nosedived to a point of no return. With over 150 properties having been acquired by the BMRCL and being demolished, nearly 650 traders on this stretch have been displaced. MKK Road falls under the North-South Corridor of Namma Metro between Hessarghatta Cross and Jaraganahalli.

Though BMRCL has adopted an innovative concept of offering relocation compensation to tenants, it does not even meet a fourth of the relocation cost.

Take the example of V.M. Anand, proprietor of Anand Textiles at Mariyappanapalya, who is offered around Rs. 3 lakh relocation compensation. Having done business for three decades, he is now paying a rent of Rs. 10,000 for a 750 sq ft premises. If he wants to move into a premises of the same size, he has to pay at least Rs. 30,000 rent and advance of Rs. 5 lakh, which he cannot afford.

Similar is the case with Satya G. Karanth, proprietor of S.K. Leathers, a footwear shop near Devaiah Park. For the 200 sq ft premises, he had paid Rs. 70,000 advance and is paying a rent of Rs. 4,250. He may get around Rs. 1 lakh compensation to relocate. However, the new premises he intends to shift costs him Rs. 4 lakh towards advance and Rs. 30,000 advance at Seshadripuram.

“Even if I relocate to another place at triple the amount of the relocation compensation paid by BMRCL, I will not get the same customers and it will take at least five years to build a new customer-base,” said Mr. Anand, who is also president of the MKK Road Residents and Traders Association.

On the other hand, owners of Venkateshwara Book Stall at Mariyappanapalya will not get any relocation compensation as only the “chajja” of the building will be razed. Janardhan, brother of Venkatesh, the owner, said BMRCL would pay compensation only if they completely vacate the premises. “It is foolishness to relocate a live business,” he said.

“We fought a losing battle after BMRCL succeeded in dividing the displaced persons on the grounds of landlords and tenants,” Mr. Anand said. Landlords were too happy to receive compensation over and above the prevailing market rate even as they “got rid” of old tenants who were paying “less” rent at a single stroke, he said.

Endorsing his views, Mr. Karanth said the compensation offered to landlords was too handsome to refuse. On the other hand, tenants have been paying through their nose to get relocated and start business from the scratch.

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