Karnataka CM owns 47 acres next to Mysore expressway his govt wants to take over

Karnataka CM owns 47 acres next to Mysore expressway his govt wants to take over
Johnson T A

The Indian Express

Aiming to grab road project, Karnataka seeks legal opinionDefying SC orders, Karnataka works on Bill to grab country’s first private road projectBhogpur traders stand in the wayRly bridges make easy stretch toughFinal four-lane stretch to Chandigarh faces land hurdle

Bangalore, June 10:Flying in the face of orders of the High Court and the Supreme Court, the Karnataka government is considering a hostile bid to take over the country’s first showpiece private roadway project, the 111-km Bangalore Mysore Infrastructure Corridor (BMIC), meant to decongest the choked heart of India’s technology hub. Chief Minister H D Kumaraswamy says this will “protect the land of poor farmers,” give them their due.

There could be another reason—the Bill will free up the sprawling 47 acres he owns right next to the proposed expressway. Current price, at conservative rates: up to Rs 1 crore per acre.

Land ownership records (Record of Rights, Tenancy and Crop) obtained by The Sunday Express under the state’s Bhoomi computerised records scheme reveal that the Chief Minister owns 47.26 acres in the zone subject to regulation by the BMIC Area Planning Authority. It falls within the Ramanagaram constituency that elected him to the state Assembly.

Records also show that the land was registered in Kumaraswamy’s name over a period of time—24 acres between 1985-1996 and the last 23 acres (shown as donated to him) in 2004-05. This is exactly the same period that his father, former Prime Minister H D Deve Gowda, began stridently opposing the project.

Official maps of the BMIC Area Planning Authority also show that Kumaraswamy’s property is barely 4 km off the planned expressway and is located exactly where land has been identified for two townships proposed under the corridor project by the expressway’s private builders, the Nandi Infrastructure Corridor Enterprise (NICE).

Not just that, a third township proposed by Kumaraswamy himself is also to be located near his plot.

When contacted by The Sunday Express, Kumaraswamy said: “We are only protecting farmers. Land registered in my name in 2004-05 was donated by an aunt. I will resign and donate the land to anyone who proves my family owns land in the alignment of the project.’’

What Kumaraswamy doesn’t mention is that his proposed Streamlining of Karnataka Infrastructure Development and Land Reforms Bill 2006 besides taking over the project from NICE, plans to abolish the Authority altogether that currently regulates all development in the area including in which Kumaraswamy’s property falls.

The Managing Director of NICE is among the members of the Authority.

A visit to Kethiganahalli village, in Ramnagaram Taluk, around 30 km from Bangalore, where Kumaraswamy’s land is, showed that the boundaries of Kumaraswamy’s property begin near the existing Bangalore Mysore State Highway 17.

With land value in the area skyrocketing following the commencement of the BMIC project and the improvement of the existing highway, Kumaraswamy is among those sitting on a goldmine. The commencement of the three township projects proposed in the vicinity of the property is expected to push prices up further.

By taking over the project, all the land in the area, even the 20,193 acres to be allotted to NICE to carry out the project (upheld by the Supreme Court) could be up for grabs again. For, with the Authority out of the way, land development will return to its unregulated ways with the politically powerful gaining land, fear officials.

“There is a great deal of speculation on land prices that is going on. Whether they (the government) do the project or the company does the project, the price of land is going to be constantly rising. If the government can get its hands on the project, then it can control things better. It can get its own pliable developers to handle townships, even de-notify the project land near Kumaraswamy’s plot and buy it,’’ say sources.

• Why does your government want to take over the BMIC project?

We are not going to stop the project, we only want to take over formalities like excess land acquired by the company. The project is too much in favour of the company..

• The Supreme Court and the High Court don’t think so. Aren’t you going against the courts?

The legislation will be within the purview of the HC and SC rulings.

• The Bill signals you are against private investment in infrastructure

We are against people trying to rob the state in the name of development. We want to complete the expressway in one year’s time. We want to also give better compensation to farmers losing their land.

• Your land too?

I will resign and donate the land to anyone who can prove I or anyone else in our family owns land in the alignment area. We are not protecting anyone but farmers.