The Hindu : Karnataka / Bangalore News : Scrap pact with Mantri for metro station: MLA

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Wednesday, Dec 22, 2010
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Scrap pact with Mantri for metro station: MLA

Staff Reporter

Developer's plan for two skyscrapers will choke Malleswaram: Dinesh Gundu Rao

— FILE PHOTO: V. Sreenivasa Murthy

DAILY NIGHTMARE:Today Malleswaram residents are besieged by traffic gridlocks thanks to Mantri Square mall.

BANGALORE: Gandhinagar MLA Dinesh Gundu Rao on Tuesday urged Bangalore Metro Rail Corporation Ltd. (BMRCL) to take up the construction of Sampige Road Metro Station on its own and scrap the agreement with Mantri Developers.

Mr. Rao told presspersons that the public-private partnership (PPP) agreement with Mantri was beneficial neither to the metro nor to the general public, particularly those residing around Sampige Road in Malleswaram.

Station construction

After acquiring 5.03 acres of Mantri's land for the station in 2007, BMRCL entered into an agreement with the firm for joint development of the land. As per the agreement, Mantri will construct the station at a cost of Rs. 30 crore and also develop the surrounding land by building about 8 lakh sq. ft of commercial space under a 99-year lease.

The agenda?

Accusing the developer of being economical with the truth, Mr. Rao said the firm had obtained sanction plan from Bruhat Bangalore Mahanagara Palike (BBMP) for a three-basement, four-storey residential complex and a three-basement, three-storey office complex on the land leased out by BMRCL. However, its actual plan is to build a 55-storey, residential complex and a 47-storey office complex, Mr. Rao alleged, and said he had personally seen the plan.

Traffic gridlock

Already areas around Sampige cinema have been witnessing massive traffic gridlock due to the presence of the Mantri Square mall. If these proposed constructions are permitted, it is end of the road for the residents. There is already water shortage in Jakkarayanakere, Okalipuram, Srirampuram and Seshadripuram. The projects will place a colossal burden on the water and sanitary infrastructure in the locality.

Announcing his plans to write to the Chief Minister and the Mayor to scrap the PPP project, Mr. Rao said it was better that BMRCL itself build the station and compensate Mantri for the land acquired. “We don't want any more malls within the central business district. If the metro is keen on exploiting its land, let it do so on the outskirts.”

Not finalised

Reacting to Mr. Rao's claims, Mantri's spokesperson V.G. Kiran Kumar said they were yet to get the plan approved by the BBMP. “Since the Government has directed all the developers to pay BBMP 10 per cent of the land cost towards civic amenities, developers have challenged it before the High Court,” he said. As per this directive, BBMP has demanded Rs. 9 crore from Mantri, which the developer is resisting.

“If the court verdict upholds the Government directive, we have to abandon the project. However, we'll construct the metro station as we are keen on providing public amenity,” Mr. Kumar said.

He dodged questions on the skyscrapers proposal saying it was too premature to respond.

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