Knowledge City at snails pace

Knowledge City at snails pace
By P M Raghunandan, DH News Service, Bangalore:
Multi-crore Bidadi Knowledge City, has been too hot a project for the officialdom to handle. It has now landed in the lap of Chief Minister B S Yeddyurappa.



The project has not moved an inch forward despite securing clearance almost a year ago. The officialdom has, in fact, done a perfect manoeuvring all these days to place the ball in the new Government’s court by sticking to their own ‘drag-on’ policy.

The Knowledge City is seen as a pet project of former CM H D Kumaraswamy.
He had taken much trouble to convince the farmers in the project area to give up their land. For this, he had personally held several meetings with farmers, who were seeing red.

After the Delhi-based developer DLF secured Rs 50,000 crore project contract in early 2007, Karnakata Industrial Area Development Board (KIADB) in March same year put up a proposal to issue preliminary notification for acquisition of around 9,000 acres land near Bidadi. The proposal was okayed by the Kumaraswamy cabinet in October, a day before his Government collapsed. “KIADB can issue the notification only when the Industries and Commerce (I&C) department gives its nod. But the I&C has maintained silence,” official sources told Deccan Herald.

Moreover, though the project developer had by then deposited Rs 300 crore as the initial deposit and Rs 100 crore as initial land acquisition cost with Bangalore Metropolitan Region Development Authority (BMRDA), the nodal agency to implement the project, it released only Rs 5 crore to the KIADB towards land acquisition cost, which, sources said, was done merely to fulfil the formality. The remaining sum is still with BMRDA.
Integrated township

The mega project, about 30 kms from Bangalore city creates space exclusively to IT and BT industries. It is planned to be a integrated township under “work-live-play” concept.

The subsequent President’s rule put the project on hold. The Governor’s advisors, despite holding a series of meetings in this regard, failed to take any decision. The advisors, in order to drag on, went on seeking clarification from the developer on the feasibility of the project.

Concerned over the delay, DLF asked the Government to provide rights to claim liquidatory damages if, in case, land acquisition process is delayed. It also asked the rights to sublease the land openly. The Governor then sought the law department’s advise on these demands that never came. “The law department has so far has not replied to this,” sources said.

Violation of code

Surprisingly, the Governor’s executive committee in April 2008 gave its clearance to issue preliminary notification to acquire land. But then the Election Commission put it on hold saying that it is in violation of model code of conduct.

“The officials knew fully well that the EC would block it. By clearing it, the Executive Committee just wanted to show that it was not against the project,” sources said.

Though the election process got over by May end, the I&C has not directed KIADB to issue the preliminary notification. The file will now be placed before the CM.

HDKSPEAK

I conceived the project to decongest Bangalore city. So I took a lot of trouble to expedite it. But during the President’s rule, all projects taken up during my tenure, including Knowledge City, were blocked. Let us see what the new Government would do now.