Bengaluru: Union minister for heavy industries and steel and Janata Dal (S) state president HD Kumaraswamy Sunday urged people affected by the proposed PRR-NICE Road link near Madavara to unite and take to the streets to protect their homes and livelihoods.The proposed 3km NICE-Tumakuru Road PRR-1 Integration is an additional link between the upcoming Peripheral Ring Road-1 (or Bengaluru Business Corridor) and NICE Road, which already intersects Tumakuru Road at Madanayakanahalli. Nearly 1,000 families fear displacement, while residents have said around 330 properties fall within the notified stretch.At a public meeting attended by nearly 2,000 people in Thotadaguddadahalli village off Tumakuru Road, Kumaraswamy accused chief minister DK Shivakumar of helping Nandi Infrastructure Corridor Enterprises (NICE) at the cost of affected people. “Our current CM was the minister for urban development and chairman of Bangalore-Mysore Infrastructure Corridor Area Planning Authority in 2003-04, when he flouted the norms under the framework agreement to benefit NICE owners and, in turn, receive benefits from them,” he said. The Union minister also alleged that farmers whose land was acquired for the project had not received compensation even after decades.Kumaraswamy referred to high court observations on NICE and announced that he would visit more than 50 villages, where families have been affected by land acquisition for various projects, on Oct 2. The visit will begin at Madavara in northwest Bengaluru and cover areas up to Electronics City.Fear of displacementKala Chandrashekhar, an affected resident, said families were living in fear of losing their homes. “We are living under the fear that we will be thrown out of our houses by BDA. There was no on-ground survey conducted here. BDA said its notification was based on satellite surveys. There was no survey of the impact on people,” she said.She alleged that the NICE integration was not part of PRR but a new plan involving officials and middlemen. “Officials say the amount would be deposited in court and acquisition will be done even if we do not agree,” she said.Another resident, Sharath, questioned the proposed alignment. “Right next to the alignment, there was govt land. When we asked why that was not considered for the alignment, the same land was converted into layouts and sold within two months,” he said.Land for PRR-1 was notified in 2007, while land required for the integration stretch was notified in 2022. The final notification was issued in June 2026, after BDA finalised tenders for the first PRR-1 package in March.
