Greater Bengaluru township will be on the lines of Delhi and Chandigarh with broad avenues: DKS

A street in Chandigarh, which is one of the best planned cities in India.
| Photo Credit: Akhilesh Kumar

Rejecting former Prime Minister H. D. Deve Gowda’s opposition to the acquisition of land in Bidadi for establishing Greater Bengaluru township, Deputy Chief Minister D. K. Shivakumar said it will be developed into a model city for the entire country.

Speaking to reporters in Mysuru on April 25, Mr. Shivakumar pointed out that the land had already been acquired when JD(S) leader H. D. Kumaraswamy was the Chief Minister of Karnataka. “I am not ready to denotify it. For, whenever land is denotified, there will be a flurry of accusations of corruption. I have experienced it,” he said.

He said Mr. Kumaraswamy, during his tenure as Chief Minister, had decided to establish seven townships and acquired land in Bidadi, Sathanur and Nandagudi for the same. “Why did they not denotify the land when Mr. Kumaraswamy was the Chief Minister of Karnataka twice?”

Township will be better than Bengaluru

He said the government will go ahead with the Greater Bengaluru township project on 10,000 acres of land.

He said the proposed Greater Bengaluru township will be better than the existing Bengaluru city. “It will be on the lines of Delhi and Chandigarh with broad avenues,” he said.

He said consultations had already been held with farmers who have been assured good compensation for their land. “The farmers will get either money or developed land in lieu of their land acquired for the township project,” he said.

Mr. Shivakumar also expressed confidence of changing the name of Ramanagara district to Benglauru South district. “Our name, our right,” he said while claiming that he knew how to get the name changed.

Cauvery Arti

Before proceeding to KRS reservoir to inspect the venue for the proposed ‘Cauvery Arti’, Mr. Shivakumar said the programme is a religious affair.

He said Cauvery river is a lifeline for Karnataka, Tamil Nadu and Kerala. The river provides water for drinking, irrigation as well as industrial purposes, besides drinking water for Bengaluru city. Hence, the Departments of Religious Endowments, Kannada and Culture, Tourism, Irrigation as well as Bengaluru Water Supply and Sewerage Board (BWSSB) were organising the Cauvery Arti programme.