Let Govt release land from Monday itself: Kheney

Let Govt release land from Monday itself: Kheney
Deccan Herald

“If the Government is serious about releasing land as per the letter written by Public Works Department (PWD) on June 12, let them start doing it from Monday itself. If not, we may think of taking appropriate action by June 23,” said Nandi Infrastructure Corridor Enterprise (NICE) Managing Director Ashok Kheny, throwing a new challenge to the Government on Saturday.

In the letter signed by P B Mahishi, Principal Secretary — PWD, it stated that the Government was ‘taking emergent steps to make available a total of 2,193 acres of land for construction of peripheral road and seven interchanges thereon, and 278 acres of land for construction of the link road and an interchange thereon, with the scope of activities as delineated in the record produced by NICE itself before the High Court in Somashekhar Reddy’s matter in their affidavit’.

Mr Kheny, though acknowledging the letter, speculated that it was written to “protect Chief Minister H D Kumaraswamy”.

“The letter has been addressed only to NICE, no copies of the same have been sent to the Project Coordinator or the Special Deputy Commissioner of the KIADB, who are the major facilitators of the project. I am looking at the letter with suspicion,” Mr Kheny told Deccan Herald.

Incidentally, the letter also mentions that as per the Court’s direction, Nandi Infrastructure Corridor Enterprise can develop the townships only after the expressway is completed. In response, Mr Kheny said the company was not pressing for developing townships, and its priority was the road works.

“However, we would want to develop the townships too, as the lands have already been notified, and it is best for the poor farmers that the land is developed and they get their compensation,” Mr Kheny said.