Government to clarify its stand on BMIC project

Government to clarify its stand on BMIC project

The Hindu

Facts will be placed before the public: Cheluvaraya Swamy Facts will be made public: Cheluvaraya Swamy

# Charges Framework agreement was changed by Krishna government
# Agreement has been grossly violated
# This has caused injustice to farmers


BANGALORE: Transport Minister N. Cheluvaraya Swamy on Saturday said the Government would soon place all facts and issues related to the controversial Bangalore-Mysore Infrastructure Corridor (BMIC) project before the public to clarify its stand on the project.

Addressing presspersons here, he alleged that the S.M. Krishna government had changed the framework agreement signed in 1997 by the government headed by the late J.H. Patel. There were some gross violations of the agreement signed with Nandi Infrastructure Corridor Enterprise (NICE), which was executing the project, and these violations had led to injustice to farmers. The coalition government headed by H.D. Kumaraswamy would not tolerate such injustice, he said.

`Court verdict honoured'

The Government was not against the project. It had honoured the Supreme Court verdict and granted land to NICE. However, NICE had acquired excess land in and around Bangalore, he charged.

Asked about the proposed legislation to take back excess land from NICE, he said there were some legal problems regarding the definition of `excess land.' The Janata Dal (S) wanted to reclaim excess land to implement infrastructure projects, which would generate revenue for the State, he said.

He criticised State BJP president D.V. Sadananda Gowda's statement that the former Prime Minister H.D. Deve Gowda was issuing unnecessary statements on the BMIC project. Mr. Deve Gowda's statements were not relevant since he had opposed the formation of JD (S)-BJP government, Mr. Sadananda Gowda had said.

New buses

The Bangalore Metropolitan Transport Corporation would soon purchase 125 Volvo buses, Mr. Cheluvaraya Swamy said.

The BMTC was operating 25 Volvo buses and the response from the public was encouraging. The company would supply 25 buses by August-end and 100 buses later, he said.

The Karnataka State Road Transport Corporation (KSRTC) had built a 45-seater bus, similar to the Volvo bus, with air-conditioning and power steering. It cost only Rs. 25 lakh as against the Rs. 63 lakh being charged by the company for one bus. The KSRTC was also building 63-seater express buses with the same specifications for long-distance services, the Minister said.

On the public demand for running more buses at night in Bangalore, he said the KSRTC would first conduct a survey and, based on the findings, it would take a decision, he added.