All hurdles cleared for NICE projects

All hurdles cleared for NICE projects
Panel Approves Works On Expressway, Peripheral Road
TIMES NEWS NETWORK

Bangalore: The Bangalore-Mysore Infrastructure Corridor Project could finally be on the home stretch. The empowered committee on BMICP, headed by chief secretary Sudhakar Rao, on Tuesday is understood to have given the goahead to Nandi Infrastructure Corridor Enterprises (NICE) on pending works relating to the peripheral road and expressway. This effectively means all administrative decks are cleared for the company.
Barring a few patches where land has not been made available by the government, NICE has c o m p l e t e d major portions of link and peripheral roads. With this green signal, NICE is all set to take up works in the bottlenecks.
Due to the Kumaraswamy government’s numerous roadblocks, the BMIC project was entangled in a legal battle for four years. The company even filed a contempt case in the Supreme Court against the state government for disobeying its order on the case.
Unwilling to go against the SC order, governor Rameshwar Thakur’s executive committee had issued an order paving the way for completion of peripheral and link road, that had been stalled by the Kumaraswamy government. Besides, the committee also asked Rao to take all necessary steps for early completion of the rest of NICE’s projects, including the expressway connecting Bangalore and Mysore.
The JD(S), as coalition partners of the Congress and the BJP, did everything possible to stop the project, but the SC came to NICE’s rescue. The government was rapped on five occasions by the Karnataka High Court and Supreme Court in the past three years in the BMIC case.
Interestingly, the government during President’s rule modified Kumaraswamy’s cabinet decisions taken in August 2007, which proposed inviting global tenders to take up the BMIC project through the Swiss Challenge method. However, the S u p re m e Court struck down this idea.
B e fo re passing an order, the executive committee had taken note of NICE’s core contention, which said the state government was
doing everything at its command to frustrate and defeat the various writs of mandamus issued by the courts, with a view to kill the project contrary to the direction of the courts.
“We have completed 39.5 km of the total length of 41 km of peripheral road; 7.1 km of the 9.1 km of link road and only 4.5 km of expressway. The remaining portions of the roads and the interchanges are incomplete owing to non-availability of lands,’’ NICE representative said.
SC rejects NICE plea
On Monday, the Supreme Court rejected NICE plea to hear the project’s alignment road near Gottigere lake and directed the petitioner that the matter be heard in Karnataka High Court where the matter is pending. BOTTLENECK AREAS ON NICE PROJECTS
Bangalore: With the empowered committee giving green signal, NICE is all set to take up works in bottleneck areas, including:
Link Road: 9.1 km taking off from SH 17 (Kavika and linking the expressway)
At 0 to 0.6 km linking expressway and Mysore Road near Byatarayanapura and Divitigeramanahally village.
At 1.4 km, BBMP is yet to communicate approval for diversion road at ring road and integrating bridge and ramps across Outer Ring Road, which is pending for the last one and a half years.
Between 2.6 km to 2.9 km near Hosakerehalli.
At 5.4 km, where alignment in BWSSB water pipeline has to be shifted, for which NICE has made a payment of Rs 77 lakh.
Between 7.80 km and 8.30 km near Hemmigepura village for formation of link road.
Peripheral Road
Between 8 km and 9 km on Bannerghatta Road junction, near Gottigere village for formation of road, ramps and slip roads to provide entry and exit to peripheral road.
Between 15.4 km and 16 km near Kanakapura road junction of Thalaghattapura village land required for ramps and slip road for entry and exit to peripheral road and land near U M Kaval village required to relocate high tension power line to facilitate construction of peripheral road, ramps and slip road.
Between 23.4 km and 24.2 km near Mysore Road junction, clearance for construction of bridge across Mysore-Bangalore Road and land near Kengeri for construction of ramps/slip road for entry/exit to peripheral road.
Between 33.6 km and 33.8 km near Magadi Road junction near Hosahally Gollarapalya for construction of ramps/slip road for entry/exit to peripheral road.
Expressway
Land required for laying of road from 5 km to 13.2 km is 184 acres. And 100 acres for formation of two interchanges. They fall in Gangasandra, Chinnakurchi, Vasanthahalli, Gonipura, Thippura, Hampapura, Talakuppe and Bheemanahalli