Hon’ble Justice Shri. Chandrashekaraiah of the High Court of Karnataka has quashed the land acquisition for the BMIC townships, and allowed acquisition to proceed for only the Expressway component. Consequently, there has to be very critical examination if the controversial BMIC proposal of M/s Nandi Infrastructure Corridor Enterprise (NICE) is at all feasible, particularly given that the township development was the major means of raising funds to cross subsidise the expressway costs.
The Chief Minister of Karnataka, Shri. S. M. Krishna has rightly expressed his indignation on the negligible progress on the Bangalore Mysore Infrastructure Corridor project (BMIC) over the past several years. He has cited this as reason enough for initiating 4-laning works of the Mysore-Bangalore Highway (SH-17) by Karnataka Road Development Corporation Ltd. (KRDCL). This is a progressive step, though much delayed, and the Chief Minister should now ensure SH-17 works are completed post haste.
The 4-laning of Bangalore-Mysore Road (SH-17) is expected to cost Rs. 330 crores and is open to all. It services all existing towns and cities in this region and its expansion requires a little over 100 acres. In addition, the State could collaborate with the Southern Railways to electrify and double the existing Bangalore Mysore track, which will relieve pressure on road travel, make the road safer and induce greater use of railways for public transport. Alongside, high density housing, commercial, educational, cultural and health facility development close to Railway Stations in Bidadi, Ramnagara, Channapatna, Maddur, Mandya and Srirangapatna, can be promoted. This would provide a much need boost to the economy and culture of these urban areas, and support large populations to live in any of these towns and yet travel to work on high-speed trains to Bangalore and Mysore.
The BMIC project, in comparison, is projected to cost a minimum of Rs. 4000 crores, even by very conservative estimates, and requires 21,000 acres of farm and forestlands. Unless 5 new cities between Bangalore and Mysore are built to cross-subsidise the Expressway, which again is toll-based and thus not open to all, the project is unviable. To build these 5 cities, ostensibly for housing and corporate development, over 170 villages will be directly affected and close to 200,000 people affected by dislocation of livelihood and destruction of farmlands. Further, there is no guarantee that the populations will shift from existing urban areas to these new cities. Importantly this project may take at least a decade to be completed, and is based on a model that has failed in the only place tried before: Columbia-Maryland in USA.
The cruel irony is that thousands of farmers and landless labourers will lose land, livelihood and household, so housing can be developed for an upwardly mobile urban class.
The BMIC project also involves extraction of over 2 TMC feet of Cauvery's water that has already been allocated per agreements with Bangalore Water Supply and Sewerage Board. The water demand is likely to increase enormously in future, as lifestyles promoted by this investment are extremely indulgent of water and land. Besides burdening the farmers by limiting their use of the river waters for agriculture, the project is likely to further accentuate Karnataka's knotty issue with Tamilnadu over sharing of waters.
Over the years, it has been repeatedly brought to Government’s attention, that the BMIC Project is fundamentally flawed and is the “Enron” of urban development. NICE has never been able to demonstrate that it has the technical and financial capability to deliver such a massive project. The Government deliberately glossed over the fact that one of the key consortium members ostensibly backing the project, M/s Vanasse Hangen Brustlin Inc. of USA, has clearly stated that it has no involvement whatsoever in the project. Nandi Economic Corridor Enterprise Ltd., an associate of NICE in the BMIC project, has also been listed a defaulter by the Registrar of Companies during May 2003. And the financing of the project by ICICI Bank is in possible violation of RBI directives. Besides all this, the company has violated the in-principle environmental clearance granted to the expressway component of BMIC by the Ministry of Environment and Forests. .
Mr. Dharam Singh, Minister for Public Works, has been on record that work on BMIC would start in 15 days, a statement that he has repeatedly made ever so often over the past three years. Yet there has been no progress whatsoever. Clearly then, there is no further reason to invest the State’s precious financial and administrative resources in chasing a preposterous pipe dream! This will demonstrate that the Government is serious about providing immediate relief to populations of Bangalore, Mysore, and all urban areas in-between.
The expansion of SH-17, the doubling of the Bangalore Mysore railway line along with the proposed high density housing and related development, along with the strengthening of NH-209 and its link to Mysore (Kanakapura Road) could together remain a long term solution in supporting progressive urban and infrastructure development to the benefit of all.
Such urban development would not only be appropriate to the economy and culture of this region, but also involves no major dislocation of farming communities or destruction of forestland. Further, it would protect sensitive ecosystems, particularly the BM Kaval forest, abutting the Bannerghatta National Park, a traditional Elephant corridor.
In a major appeal endorsed by many, we have urged Chief Minister Krishna to withdraw support to BMIC Project, as the next best step to promoting the widening of SH-17. Clearly a step that is just and visionary.
Leo . F. Saldanha
Rajmohan Pillai
Deepashree
Bhargavi S. Rao Padmashree
Raghavan
Environment Support Group
Environment
Support Group ®, S-3, Rajashree Apartments, 18/57, 1st Main Road,
S. R. K. Gardens, Jayanagar, Bannerghatta Road, Bangalore 560041. INDIA.
Telefax: 91-80-6341977 Tel: 6534364.
Email: [email protected] Website: www.esgindia.org or www.indiatogether.org/campaigns/bmic