‘Excess’ land grab to benefit some netas?

‘Excess’ land grab to benefit some netas?
Govt Goes Technical To Put In More BMIC Roadblocks
The Times of India

Bangalore: Why does the state government want to take over “excess’’ land in Bangalore Mysore Infrastructure Corridor? According to sources, certain bureaucrats and politically influential individuals are keen on a stake in the prized area.

Sources told The Times of India: “These people want that area to be denotified from the BMIC project. Since project promoter Nandi Infrastructure Corridor Enterprise is resisting, the state government is trying intimidation through takeover laws and review petitions.’’

The dispute is about 2,451 acres of land around the peripheral road (Hosur Road to Tumkur Road). These are said to have been bought from farmers at a pittance as soon as it was known in the late 1990s that the NICE road would come there. Sources said: “Land prices around the NICE road are sky-high now. If that land is denotified and released to them, they can make a killing.’’

Government officials, justifying their stand, said the framework agreement of 1997 is very clear that no habitations should come up along the peripheral road. “The only reason we are opposing the NICE demand is that no structures can come up there, other than roadrelated buildings. Instead, we are willing to give the same 2,451 acres at any other township that the company wants,’’ they maintained.

NICE, according to the government, is planning not only hospitals and petrol bunks in the “excess land’’ but also residential layouts. NICE officials say from the time of the framework agreement, it was known what the land in the 300-acre interchanges (flyovers) would be used for, and all the necessary permissions had been obtained.

“At each interchange, we plan truck terminals, bus terminals, warehouses, cold storage facilities and parking lots. We are thinking for the next 30 years,’’ a NICE official said. “We also decided to provide, as per BDA relocation norms, sites to every land loser (a 60x40 site for every acre of land they give up) at the interchange locations. This would require schools and hospitals in that area.” Opinion in the government is divided on whether a law or a review petition in the SC can hold water in getting back this ‘excess land’. Voices of caution state that chief minister H D Kumaraswamy has been “misled’’.

Officials are treading cautiously as SC came down harshly on the state government in its April judgment, attributing “malafide intentions’’ with political overtones for “change of heart’’ on the project.