D.K. Shivakumar announces Walls of Gratitude to honour Bengaluru landowners

Karnataka Chief Minister D.K. Shivakumar announced on Saturday that the state government will establish "Walls of Gratitude" to honour landowners who voluntarily part with their land for public infrastructure projects. Speaking at the inauguration of the newly renamed S.M. Krishna Road in Bengaluru, Shivakumar stated that the initiative aims to recognize the sacrifices made by citizens who hand over their properties without raising objections.

Under the new initiative, the names of landowners who contribute their land for public projects—such as roads, schools, industrial areas, and lakes—will be permanently etched on memorial walls. The first of these memorial walls has already been established along S.M. Krishna Road, featuring the inscribed names of the local landowners who gave up their properties for the road's construction.

The announcement comes amidst rising tensions over infrastructure development in the region. Several farmer groups on the outskirts of Bengaluru have been staging protests against various land acquisition notifications. Even the newly inaugurated S.M. Krishna Road, formerly known as the Major Arterial Road, has faced its own share of land acquisition hurdles.

Shivakumar emphasized that the memorial walls are designed to permanently preserve the legacy of cooperative citizens. "This road will not remain an 11-km stretch," Shivakumar said during the event. "It will eventually become part of a 123-km corridor, and the names of those who sacrificed their land for this development will be preserved permanently."

The Chief Minister reiterated the Karnataka government's commitment to completing the proposed 123-kilometre Bengaluru Business Corridor. According to Shivakumar, the tendering process for the massive project is currently underway. Furthermore, the government plans to shortly issue the final land acquisition notification for the specific corridor stretch that connects Electronics City to Mysuru Road.