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Clearly there is no other project in the country that bears as much influence on the future of appropriate infrastructure development, than Karnataka’s experience with the Bangalore Mysore Infrastructure Corridor Project.

Conceived to decongest and help proper development of the Bangalore Mysore region, the main achievement of Nandi Infrastructure Corridor Enterprise (NICE), the project developer, has been to phenomenally abuse the questionable access it had to government and private resource, even as its credentials as a developer has remained in doubt.

The role of the Government, depending on who is in power, has varied quite a bit. Initially, many viable alternatives were easily dismissed. This included the expansion and redesigning of existing highways and doubling of railway track, that required very little land acquisition and investment. BMICP was aggressively promoted, instead, as the only way out to contain the rapid urbanisation and unplanned growth of Bangalore.

As matters stand now, a decade since BMICP was approved, the expansion to four lanes of the existing Mysore Road (SH-17) is nearing completion and similar work on Kanakapura Road (NH-309) is being initiated - at minimal cost compared to BMIC (currently estimated at Rs. 4,000 crores). Additionally, the doubling of the Bangalore-Mysore railway line is imminent, and could positively influence land development in existing towns and cities improving their economic worth and quality of infrastructure. In such context, would BMIC Project be required at all?

The BMIC townships - designed for the rich and wealthy and not the burgeoning middle class who contribute to the bulk of the city’s population growth - are nowhere near initiation even. As for the toll based, limited access expressway, all that NICE has achieved is land grabbing, not in mere tens, but thousands of acres. Not just ordinary abuse of power, but phenomenal abuse of Eminent Domain powers based on collusion amongst key officers of the Government and the company has resulted in over 10,000 acres of excess acquisition of lands!

And here’s how this was done:

1. When the BMIC project was first approved by an MOU between then Chief Minister Deve Gowda and Governor William Weld of Massachusetts, USA, as part of a sister state agreement, a consortium involving Vanasse Hangen Brustlin (VHB, USA), SAB Engineering (SAB, USA), and Kalyani Group (India) was to undertake the project on BOOT basis. A GO was passed on the basis of the MOU on 20th November 1995 (No. PWD 32 CSR 95) authorizing acquisition of 18,313 acres of land for the development of an expressway (including peripheral road, link road and attendant facilities in and around Bangalore) and five townships between Bangalore and Mysore. Based on recommendations of the High Level Committee and the consortium’s Project Technical Report, Government land would be provided only on lease at Rs. 10/acre to support the initiative.
2. In 1997, Nandi Infrastructure Corridor Enterprise (NICE) entered the picture claiming the rights assigned to the consortium. The fact that VHB, the only technically competent member of the consortium had walked out of the project, was never brought to the notice of the government. One of the signatories to this release did repeatedly inform the Government, including through the press, of this fact. But it chose to remain silent then. The Government of Karnataka has now contested that this assignment of consortium rights to NICE was illegal, a stand that has been explicitly made before the Hon’ble High Court of Karnataka in WP 45386 of 2004 (PIL).
3. Meanwhile, NICE never focused on developing the project per design. Instead, it colluded with key GOK officials to illegally acquire large extents of land based on, what turns out to be, phenomenal abuse of power. Most of these lands were acquired in and around Bangalore, in clear violation and deviation from approved plans, which only allowed for development of Peripheral Road and Link Road. The livelihood of thousands of small and marginal farmers was destroyed in the process, as their lands were acquired at rates far below commercial rates giving them no opportunity of buying other lands. NICE benefited immensely and promptly began selling the acquired lands at commercial rates.
4. The scale of such largesse handed over to a private agency is unprecedented. If the 2,450 acres of excess land around Bangalore assigned to NICE were articulated in money terms, this would constitute a largesse of Rs. 10,000 crores (at Rs. 1000/sft, the current rate in remote extensions). NICE having freehold rights over this land could at any time in the future exploit the real estate potential at rates far higher than what it is today.
5. As repeated efforts by public interest groups and individuals to get the Government to check this abuse of power went unheard, affected farmers requested former Prime Minister Shri. Devegowda to intervene. Shri. Gowda brought this to the notice of His Excellency Shri. T. N. Chaturvedi, Governor of Karnataka, in several representations through March and April 2004.
6. On this basis, the Governor sought all files connected with BMIC, and within two months reviewed the whole matter to finally state, that lands far in excess of actual requirements were notified for acquisition. In specific, the Governor held that:
a) Overall about 30% of private land is notified in excess of actual requirement. 20,825 acres of private land was notified when what was actually required is about 15,000 acres. This constitutes an excess of 5,702 acres of private land alone for the overall project.
b) In specific relating to the toll based expressway, the total acquisition is 6,999 acres, when only 5120 acres was required. This constitutes an excess of 1,879 acres or 37%.
c) With regard to the interchanges (totally 16, including 8 around Bangalore), 3065 acres has been acquired, against the actual requirement of 1186 acres. This constitutes an excess acquisition of 1878 acres or 158%.
d) It is also observed that about 4970 acres of government land has already been leased out to NICE, who in turn have used it as “security for securing loan from the financial institutions”.

The Governor recommended the Chief Secretary to take “appropriate action” but no such action followed. It is ironical that the Government of Karnataka has not brought this letter to the notice of the Hon’ble Court in the ongoing arguments on the matter.

Recently, the Hon’ble High Court of Karnataka in its interim order (dated 10 March 2005) on a PIL filed by Legislators Madhuswamy (JD-U) and Sriram Reddy (CPI-M) on the Bangalore Mysore Infrastructure Corridor Project, have stated that they are “perturbed with the stand taken by the State Government” as it now argues that “the framework agreement is the result of a fraud and misrepresentation made by the Company” (M/s Nandi Infrastructure Corridor Enterprise). The Hon’ble Court has thereby observed “it appears that the State Government is not very sure of what it proposes to do in the matter” directing the Chief Secretary “to file a detailed affidavit as a response of the State Government to the writ petition clearly bringing out the stand of the State Government and what it proposes to do in the matter.... on or before 31st March 2005”.

Scandalous revelations of Shri. Anees Siraj, Spl. DC KIADB – BMICP:

In a shocking revelation, Mr. Anees Siraj, Spl. Deputy Commissioner of KIADB - BMICP, in his letter dated 22 May 2004, confirms that 29, 258 acres of land has been notified for the project, an excess of about 10,945 acres, compared with the original 18,000 acres agreed to! He confesses thus:

“Land Acquisition notifications were issued based on the requirement indicated by the promoter company and not on the basis of any technical drawings/maps as approved by the Government in PWD or the project report”.

In the same letter, he also clarifies the extraordinary extent to which NICE has played a role in acquiring land, statin:

“(d)enotification of 2728 acres was issued (vide Gazette dated: 11-2-2004) relating to lands indicated by the company as not required”

This statement from a designate officer in charge of land acquisition of the project is absolute proof that NICE and its supporters within the Government have made a mockery of the process of planning, acquisition and compensation. Clearly, this is evidence for a special investigation to be instituted on how Mr. Siraj, and other such responsible officers, at all allowed such land acquisition to take place in total violation of the public interest and basic tenets of the Principle of Eminent Domain.

A thorough examination of the acquisition undertaken by an expert review committee constituted by the present Government and headed by Padmashri Awardee Shri. K. C. Reddy, has established in its interim findings, that excess land acquisition around Bangalore alone is 2,450 acres. It has recommended that such lands must be returned to the original owners.

Keeping this in view, it is high time that GOK must put public interest above everything else and confirm in no uncertain terms that it will not tolerate fraud and misrepresentation by NICE and complicit officials any longer. This is a time for the Government to set right the wrongs committed as advised by the Governor, as recommended by the Reddy Committee and as sought for by the Hon’ble High Court of Karnataka. It is a time to ensure that the development of the Bangalore Mysore region would serve present and future interests equitably and not of any vested interest.

With this in view, we have presented a detailed representation to the Chief Secretary of Karnataka (copy enclosed) providing extensive documentation of the gross abuse of power leading to dispossession of poor farmers and causing extraordinary loss to the State. The representation urges the Government to not miss this opportunity to correct past wrongs and take an unsparing step in punishing the guilty. In no uncertain terms, the government must back the CBI enquiry into the project, prayed for by the petitioners.

Vijayaraghavan, President, Bhooswadhina Virodhi Horata Vedike

Nagabhushan, Vice President, Bhooswadhina Virodhi Horata Vedike

Nagaraj, State Coordinator, Dalit Sangarsh Samithi (S)

Leo F. Saldanha, Coordinator, Environment Support Group

Maj. Gen. S. G. Vombatkere (Retd.), Convenor, National Alliance of People’s Movements (Karnataka)

Chukki Nanjundaswamy, General Secretary, Karnataka Rajya Raitha Sangha and Green Brigade

Address for contact:

Environment Support Group ®, S-3, Rajashree Apartments, 18/57, 1st Main Road, S. R. K. Gardens,
Jayanagar, Bannerghatta Road, Bangalore 560041. INDIA
Telefax: 91-80-26341977/26531339/26534364 Fax: 91-80-51179912
Email: [email protected] or [email protected] Web: www.esgindia.org

Bhooswadhina Virodhi Horata Vedike, 44/1A, Lakshmidevi Industrial Estate, Bannerghatta Road, Bangalore 560041
Tel: 91-80-26689544/26689844 Fax: 26782193 Email: [email protected]