Belagavi: With the state cabinet giving approval to Belagavi Urban Development Authority’s (BUDA) Kanabaragi residential layout project (scheme no.61), most of the hurdles in the implementation of the project have come to an end. BUDA received approval orders on Monday.The proposed project planned over 159 acres and 23 guntas of land had been facing legal and technical hurdles for the past 10 years. BUDA tried to work out a formula with farmers by offering them developed land on a 60:40 ratio and then modified it to 50:50 after not finding any takers.Despite getting cabinet approval, the project faced legal hurdles as farmers who owned 48 acres of the project approached the high court rejecting the second proposal too. In June, 2016, the Belagavi regional commissioner ordered land acquisition after announcing a compensation of Rs 5.61 crore to the landowners who had approached the court. However, the court issued a stay to the order. BUDA commissioner C W Shakil Ahmed said that the authority did not take the initiative to get the stay vacated in the past one year as the revised plan was yet to be approved by the cabinet. “Farmers of 111 acres of the total 159 acres had given consent to the project when the court issued the stay. Now, all farmers except those owning about 14 acres of land have accepted the project,” he said.“It’s not a big legal hurdle because only farmers of 14 acres are objecting to the project. The stay will be vacated in one or two hearings,” the commissioner said.Shakil said the model code of conduct for the assembly elections will not affect the work as it is an ongoing project. He said BUDA has already started preparations to implement the projectAccording to BUDA sources, 1,500 sites would be developed in the layout in which 50% will be given to the land owners.

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