Bruhat Bengaluru Mahanagara Palike’s project of constructing a 80-foot link road to connect the Yeshwantpur-Yelahanka Road to National Highway 7 has repeatedly faced delay, mainly due to the stay order of the High Court. The High Court has again stayed the Chief Secretary’s order which directed the BBMP to return 24 acres to University of Agricultural Sciences at Gandhi Krishi Vignana Kendra in north Bangalore for the proposed project.
In June 2007, BBMP proposed a 9km long road, to connect the Yeshwantpur-Yelahanka expressway to Bellary Road (NH 7), to provide better connectivity to the international airport from Yelahanka.
BBMP had acquired the land for the proposed project long way back. But BBMP’s attempts to construct a link road through the University of Agricultural Sciences’ Gandhi Krishi Vignana Kendra campus has stirred up a fierce battle, between BBMP and a motley group of locals, environmentalists and former Vice Chancellors of the University of Agricultural Sciences.
In 2009, the members of the “Save Gandhi Krishi Vigyan Kendra Campaign” staged a protest outside the University of Agricultural Sciences made a protest against BBMP for the project. In spite of the protest, BBMP carried its work by felling the trees and other preliminary works of the project. In 2011, the dispute went up to High Court of Karnataka to pass the verdict. In turn, the High Court directed BBMP to stop construction of the controversial link road through the biodiversity rich and ecologically sensitive forest campus of the Gandhi Krishi Vignana Kendra of University of Agricultural Sciences.
But now the High Court again has directed BBMP to resume road work at GKVK only after inquiries are made into the acquisition of 24 acres of land belonging to the agricultural research institute.
