Road Dug Up Again PWD Picks Holes In BMIC Pact

Road Dug Up Again PWD Picks Holes In BMIC Pact
The Times of India

Bangalore: High drama marked the eve of the soft opening of the 8.2 km stretch of Bangalore Mysore Infrastructure Corridor (BMIC) peripheral road on Thursday with the public works department issuing a notice to the project promoter, and miscreants digging up the road again and making off with construction material.

Amidst this, chief minister H D Kumaraswamy, maintained that he was “too small a man’’ to stop the launch. Sans politicians, the project will be inaugurated by local children and senior citizens.

Trouble started at the site in the afternoon when some unknown persons carted away material kept by promoter Nandi Infrastructure Corridor Enterprise (NICE) for road construction. This was later discovered to have been used to build a local road.

Around 6 pm, some more miscreants dug a trench at the junction of Mysore Road and the NICE Road stopping traffic from moving in. NICE officials close to the spot, including managing director Ashok Kheny, immediately intervened, and got equipment to refill the trench and set right the road.

NICE representatives called in the police on both incidents, but no arrests have been made.

IGP (central range) Jothiprakash Mirji, who visited the spot, said: “No untoward incident will take place on Friday. Law and order will be maintained.’’

Kumaraswamy, who asserted at a function at Kalagrama that the state government will not go back on its stand on the BMIC issue for “whatever reason,’’ later told a meeting of intellectuals that NICE was “too big’’ and he “too small’’ to stop the soft launch. “No one has checked the road quality. The company is so big that we don’t even have the rights to check the quality. They have full control over the road and the area. It is a bad issue, let us not discuss it further,’’ he stated.

The PWD, on its part, shot off a letter to Kheny, specifying: “The road should not be opened for traffic without prior approval of the Karnataka government.’’

This sparked off a confrontation — witnessed by The Times of India — between Kheny and a Karnataka Road Development Corporation representative at the site. Kheny said: “PWD interprets things in the way most convenient to them. Only the people or God can stop this project. I have complied with all rules and regulations.’’

Additional chief secretary (PWD) P B Mahishi said his letter was in accordance with para 6.6.2 of the framework agreement. “The government should get 60 days notice after the road is completed. The PWD has to check if it is noteworthy before the road can be opened. Since we have not received any intimation, this is a violation of the framework agreement by NICE,’’ he maintained.

The letter said: “You are requested to please furnish the detailed completion report of the project comprising all items of works carried out, along with the plans, designs, drawings etc as per the framework agreement for further needful in the matter. Hope, till the fulfilment of the aforesaid requirements you wouldn’t proceed further towards opening the road for traffic as you intended.’’