Kheny wants probe into Intl airport, Metro

Kheny wants probe into Intl airport, Metro
Deccan Herald

NICE Managing Director Ashok Kheny has affirmed here that he is ready for any inquiry into the BMIC project being built by the Nandi Infrastructure Corridor Enterprise.

He was reacting to the demand by the Congress and the Janata Dal (Secular) for an inquiry into the project.

However, Mr Kheny stated that if at all the State government wanted to institute any inquiry into the BMIC project, then it should also do the same for the Bangalore International Airport project at Devanahalli and the Bangalore Metro project. “Many things would come out of it,” he added.

Speaking to the media here on Sunday, Mr Kheny, who was here to inaugurate the ‘Suvarna Karnataka’ celebrations, stated that BMIC was an excellent project, capable of developing the whole region. “We have the support of the farmers and the people,” he added.

CM in favour

Mr Kheny stressed that Chief Minister H D Kumaraswamy was not opposed to the project, but some disgruntled bureaucrats were misleading the government. “Even the chief minister’s father H D Deve Gowda was being misled by these officials,” he said.

He pointed out that a retired bureaucrat had acquired land near the Gantigeri Lake near Bangalore and had developed it. This was in the line of the express corridor.

“Now, they want me to re-align the route. If I do this, the road would come on the Gantigeri Lake, and environmentalists will not leave me. This is the person who is misleading Mr Gowda,” he added.

Against allegations that he had mortgaged the land given to him, he said, he cannot mortgage this land as it would not be in his name. “However, I have mortgaged the infrastructure developed on this land,” he said. So far, he said, NICE had spent Rs 520 crore of its own money on the project, while Rs 480 crore had been taken as loan.

Not in excess

On the excess land controversy, Mr Kheny said, according to the agreement signed with the State government, the government had to give him 20,192 acres of land.

However, so far, the government had given only 1,770 acres of land. “When this is the case, the question of excess land does not arise at all,” he said.

He pointed out that 6,999 acres of land was required just for the express highway, and the peripheral roads.

The remaining 13,193 acres was for developing the five townships. “And the MoU signed with the government also includes these five townships,” he said.

Regarding the government’s charge that Nice had not submitted the plans to the government, he said, all the plans have already been submitted, and had even received the approval. “How can we go about without the plans being approved by the government,” he questioned.

Referring to the stalled ‘bhoomi pooja’ of the express corridor at the Mysore end, he said, it was be held in the coming week.

Gulbarga-Hyderabad

He said work on preparing the detailed planning and alignment was underway for the Gulbarga-Hyderabad expressway.

“Next month I will be meeting the chief ministers of both Karnataka and Andhra Pradesh in this regard,” he said, adding he would visit Gulbarga again in August to discuss the project with the people here.