NICE welcomes judicial probe, wants all officials to be questioned

NICE welcomes judicial probe, wants all officials to be questioned

The Hindu

Officials are misleading the Legislative Assembly on the project, says Kheny

# Kheny says the bhoomi puja will be performed on July 11
# MUDA insists on getting Rs. 84 lakh first for the land acquired

MYSORE: Managing Director of Nandi Infrastructure Corridor Enterprise (NICE) Ashok K. Kheny has welcomed the State Government's decision to order a judicial probe into the Bangalore-Mysore Infrastructure Corridor (BMIC).

Mr. Kheny told presspersons here after MUDA frustrated his efforts to perform bhoomi puja on the Mysore leg of BMIC project on Friday that the probe should cover not only previous officers involved in the affairs of the project, but also the existing ones.

"These officials are misleading the Vidhana Sabha", he said referring to the allegations levelled against NICE during the debate in the Legislature session.

Earlier, the much-publicised launch of Mysore leg of the controversial Bangalore-Mysore Infrastructure Corridor (BMIC) failed to take off on Friday with the Mysore Urban Development Authority (MUDA) preventing Mr. Kheny from performing the ground-breaking ceremony till its land acquisition dues were cleared.

The police had imposed ban orders on 14 acres and 14 guntas of land at Rajivnagar III Phase on the outskirts of the city after MUDA lodged a complaint that NICE personnel were trying to "trespass" on its land.

After a last-ditch effort to secure permission for the "bhoomi puja" by meeting Deputy Commissioner Selva Kumar, who heads MUDA, Mr. Kheny announced the postponement of the programme. "We will start work by July 11," he said.

When Mr. Kheny arrived in Mysore on Friday, he found the entry to the temporary road leading to the project site from the Outer Ring Road barricaded and hundreds of policemen standing guard.

Mr. Kheny told presspersons here on Friday that NICE had deposited Rs. 110 crore with the Government towards the cost of the land to be acquired by Karnataka Industrial Area Development Board (KIADB) for the BMIC project.

Talks

Mr. Kheny went to the office of the Deputy Commissioner and requested him to allow NICE to perform bhoomi puja on the land earmarked for the BMIC project. But Mr. Selva Kumar told him that MUDA would not allow access to the land until its acquisition dues, to Rs. 84 lakh, were cleared.