Public interest vs private greed...

Public interest vs private greed...
DH News Service ,Bangalore:
With barely a week left for the With barely a week left for the Bengaluru International Airport (BIA) to start commercial flight operations, the Bangalore City Connect Foundation (BCCF), a multi-stake holder platform of Bangalores citizens on Friday appealed to the authorities to reconsider the closure of the exiting HAL airport after the BIA starts operations on May 23.art commercial flight operations, the Bangalore City Connect Foundation (BCCF), a multi-stake holder platform of Bangalores citizens on Friday appealed to the authorities to reconsider the closure of the exiting HAL airport after the BIA starts operations on May 23.

Representatives of the BCCF, who comprise members of the IT/BT Industry, chambers of commerce and NGO’s echoed a common sentiment against providing the BIA with the sole monopoly of operating flights in and out of Bangalore.
The BCCF which had filed a PIL in the Karnataka High Court expressing their concerns over the decision on closing the HAL Airport due to connectivity and capacity constraints also suspect misgivings about the intent in advancing the opening date of the airport.
Questioning the haste in advancing the date of opening to May 23 from the originally announced May 28 post election results, the BCCF also cited the views expressed by the High Court which saw merit in the arguments and directed the Ministry of Civil Aviation and BIAL to renegotiate the contract terms.

Upheld by the SC
“The view of the Karnataka High Court was subsequently upheld by the Supreme Court that the Union of India would re-negotiate the contract in accordance with the order of the High Court and in accordance with law, after taking into account all aspects of the matter. However, the Ministry has gone ahead and given clearance for the opening of the BIA and closure of the HAL airport,” M Lakshminarayan, chairman BCCF.
The BCCF has also filed an RTI on the minutes and details of the meetings that were held between the BIAL, Ministry and others, in relation to the negotiation of the Conessional Agreement on May 29 and May 12. They have further sought details on the duration of the meetings, proposals put forth by the Government and the Airport Authority of India during the negotiations and the responses of the concerned parties.