If Govt. wills, BMIC Phase I by Aug 2005

Phase I may be ready by August next
The Hindu

BANGALORE, NOV. 18. The Government accepted a proposal on the Bangalore-Mysore Infrastructure Corridor (BMIC) project in 1995 and a framework agreement was entered into with it in April 1997.

Ashok Kheny, Managing Director, Nandi Infrastructure Corridor Enterprise (NICE) Ltd., who informed this as part of a presentation he made on the project to the Federation of Karnataka Chambers of Commerce and Industry (FKCCI) here on Thursday, said most of the politicians who were now criticising the project were part of the Government then.

If there were no hurdles, the first phase of the expressway project, including a peripheral road linking the highways to Tumkur and Hosur, could be ready by August 2005. This would decongest many city roads and divert heavy vehicle traffic away from the city centre, Mr. Kheny said.

Damage

According to some estimates, the damage caused by trucks to some city roads amounted Rs. 60 crores a year. Studies by NICE itself suggested 14,000 trucks arrived in the city from Tumkur Road and 10,000 from Hosur Road every day. As the BMIC project included two truck terminals at a cost of Rs. 100 crores along the peripheral road, trucks could load and unload at these points with light commercial vehicles ferrying goods to and from the city.

Referring to other points of criticism, Mr. Kheny said the machine tools industrial township planned along the expressway was "not a real estate venture'' but promoted by the Indian Machine Tools Manufacturers' Association. The association would purchase land for a trade fair centre and training facilities.

Bus terminal

He said NICE offered to build a bus terminal on three levels on the peripheral road with accommodation for 5,000 long-distance buses. With the expressway to Mysore reducing travel time to an estimated one hour and 50 minutes, bus operators on this route would benefit from faster turnaround time and operate a round trip within four hours. The savings could be Rs. 300 crores a year.

Benefit

Another benefit from the project would be four power-generating units of 100 MW each using gas and built in association with ONGC. "This will not be another Enron, the power will cost Rs. 2 per unit for use at the facilities along the corridor... Enron failed because the Government and promoters did not take into consideration the needs of the consumers,'' he said.

Land acquisition

On the land acquisition, he said the original plans were for 28,450 acres while the Government had handed over only 4,970 acres.

"Only 55 per cent of the land will eventually be retained by NICE and the rest will be reverted to the Government,'' he added.

Compensation

On compensation to the people of 149 villages whose land was being acquired, he said there was "no level playing field'' and the land owners were at the mercy of government officials or middlemen and faced the risk of becoming landless or forced to live in slums. NICE had deposited the compensation amount with government agencies, he said.