Bengaluru: Defence Ministry Agrees To Give Land For Namma Metro

The Defence Ministry has agreed to part with its land for the Gottigere-Nagawara line (Reach 6) in Phase 2, Deccan Herald has reported. The Bangalore Metro Rail Corporation Limited (BMRCL) has invited tenders for the six stations between Vellara Junction to Pottery Town.

The report states that defence department has agreed to part with 3415.88 square metres of land needed for the metro stations planned at M G Road, Vellara Junction and Langford Town.

This comes after Chief Minister H D Kumaraswamy, in a meeting with Defence Minister Nirmala Sitharaman had requested the minister to provide defence lands for the purpose of metro lines.

“We had held meetings with officials from the defence department to seek permission for the civil work. We were informed that approval from higher-ups was needed. Chief Minister H D Kumaraswamy had mentioned the requirement during his recent meeting with Defence Minister Nirmala Sitharaman following which we got an in-principle agreement. We are waiting for official communication,” a BMRCL special land acquisition officer is quoted to have said.

“We also need 13428.85 sq mt of land temporarily during the civil work. This will be returned to the defence department once construction work is completed. For the temporary acquisition, 7 per cent of the land’s market value is paid as rent. For this, the BMRCL has to pay about Rs 3.62 crore per year,” he is further quoted to have said.