BMIC stretch to open in July

BMIC stretch to open in July
The Times of India

BANGALORE: Even as the fate of the Bangalore-Mysore Infrastructure Corridor (BMIC) hangs in balance in the Karnataka high court, the project company on Saturday affirmed its intent and commitment to it.

The company announced that a 19-km stretch of road would be opened to the public by July, irrespective of the outcome of the case.

Work on the 4-km stretch — from Mysore Road to Sompura village (near the BDA’s BSK VI stage layout), from Sompura to Kanakapura Road near Talghattapura (6 km) and PES College to Sompura (9 km) — is on at full swing.

"It will be completed by July and thrown open to the public, irrespective of what happens in the court," project company Nandi Infrastructure Corridor Enterprise (NICE) spokesperson Manjunath Nayaker told reporters on a site visit.
The tolled C-shaped stretch is expected to reduce travel time from Kanakapura Road to Kengeri to a mere 10 minutes.

Residents from Bangalore South can also use the link road from PES College to get onto this peripheral road, avoiding the traffic through the City as well as that on the BDA’s ring road.

Besides this, works like levelling of roads, tunnelling of rocks and excavation are on at several stretches of BMIC Phase I — 41-km peripheral and 9-km link roads and the first 13 km of the 110 km expressway to Mysore — a full year after groundwork began on February 5, 2004. Investment in the project from the company’s side is said to have crossed Rs 300 crore.

"We are ready for all the road work. If the 6,999 acres of land sought by us for the first phase is handed over, we will complete this phase by August 15," Nayaker maintained.

Land, however, continues to be the main hitch for the project. According to the company, not a single acre has been handed over to them in the planned arc from Hosur Road to Kanakapura Road.

This stretch is considered crucial as it will benefit the IT traffic, by linking Hosur Road with Bannerghatta Road and providing an alternative to the overburdened BTM Ring Road.

The state government is to give its final, clear stand on how much land will be handed over to NICE at the high court hearing on April 7. Chief secretary K.K. Misra is to file an affidavit, taking into consideration the K.C. Reddy report as well as the project company’s claims.