After an almost decade-long wait, the Karnataka Cabinet has cleared the proposal for Bengaluru’s Peripheral Ring Road (PRR). This will come as a relief for many Bengalureans, as the PRR is a 117-km road stretch planned by the Bangalore Development Authority (BDA) that aims to form a sort of loop around Bengaluru, connecting several different areas. The PRR aims to connect Tumakuru road (NH4) in the north-west to Hosur Road (NH7) in the south east of the city passing through several areas in the northern and eastern part of the city.
The Karnataka Cabinet on Wednesday also gave an administrative approval for calling tenders to lay 71 kms of the road. The entire project had been delayed for over a decade owing to issues with land acquisition. The Supreme Court had in November 2021 asked the Karnataka government and Bangalore Development Authority (BDA) to start acquiring land for the PRR
The PRR is aimed to be a six lane bi-directional divided carriageway, which means the road will allow travel in both directions and each side of the road have three lanes.
The alignment of the road, according to the pre-feasibility report that was put out by the BDA, will be as follows. The stretch starts at Makali, adjacent to Tumkur road, moves north-east towards Thammenahalli and intersects State Highway (SH) 39 at Soladevanahalli, and some protected land in Kuduregere, Thammenahalli and Soladevanahalli. Further, the road goes through Kempapura and Dodda Bylakere. After Dodda Bylakerethe road goes through a green belt area, passing through Mavallipura sewage treatment plant, before entering Jarakabande Kaval forest.
It then intersects Doddaballapur road near BMS Institute of Technology, around 3 km from the periphery of Yelahanka Satellite Town. Passing through KEB layout, the road goes further east intersecting Bellary road (NH 7) at Hosahalli. The road then goes to Kogilu, and moves south along Agrahara, Thirumalenahalli, Bellahalli, DoddagubbiIn and then goes through Ramapura.
Further south-east, the road traverses Hirandahalli and intersects Old Madras Road (NH 4) near Sree Mahalakshmi Venkateswara School in Avalahalli. From Avalahalli, the road passes near Weavers Colony, and goes further down to intersect SH-35 near Govt Primary School in Shigehalli. It then goes through Kumbena Agrahara towards Kadugodi. In Kadugodi, the PRR intersects the railway line near Kadugodi Milk Federation Society. Moving down, it cuts across Channasandra main road and curves west through Nagondanahalli and Hagaduru. It then goes through Sorahunase and Varthur.
In Varthur, the road goes further down and intersects SH-35 near Kachamaranahalli. Around 3.5 kms further southwest, it cuts across Sarjapur road in Sulikunte. The road then curves south-west towards Gattahalli, Huskuru and Chikkanagamangala. Going further south-west, the road moves along the periphery of the industrial areas of Electronic City. It enters Electronic City and intersects with Hosur Road (NH-7) near Suvidya College in Hebbagodi.
The current estimated cost of the PRR, according to an affidavit submitted to the Supreme Court by the Karnataka government, is Rs 21,091 crore as of December 2020. Out of the total cost, Rs 15,475 crore will be just for the land acquisition process and the remaining Rs 5,616 crore will be for the actual construction of the road.
The government in the November 2021 affidavit also stated that the project is proposed to be taken up under the PPP-DBFOT (Public Private Partnership – Design, Build, Finance, Operate and Transfer) mode. It further stated that there is a proposal to call for global tenders.
According to the affidavit, a total of 216 acres and 18 guntas of government lands were notified by BDA through a notification dated June 29, 2007. Out of this, 141 acres and 34½ guntas of government land required for the road, The Urban Development Department is coordinating with the Revenue Department for completing the transfer process within this timeline, the affidavit had stated.