Gowda: don’t hand over land in a hurry

Gowda: don’t hand over land in a hurry

S. Rajendran

Writes to Yeddyurappa on ramifications of the Expressway project case

BANGALORE: The former Prime Minister and president of the Janata Dal (Secular), H.D. Deve Gowda, cautioned Karnataka Chief Minister B.S. Yeddyurappa against “hurrying through” in handing over the land sought by Nandi Infrastructure Corridor Enterprise (NICE), which is implementing the Bangalore-Mysore Expressway project.

Mr. Gowda, in a letter to the Chief Minister, highlighting various ramifications of the expressway project case, has said that handing over any land other than that specified in the Framework Agreement will tantamount to going against the orders of the Supreme Court and also invite the wrath of farmers. “Why the hurry when the next hearing of the Supreme Court is on August 17?”

He said: “The BJP is a party to the decisions of the previous coalition government headed by H.D. Kumaraswamy, and it is imperative for the incumbent Chief Minister to abide by the Cabinet decisions concerned and refrain from deviating in favour of the company which has been seeking land to complete the peripheral and link roads around Bangalore as part of Phase 1 of the expressway project.”

Mr. Gowda has been fighting against what he has termed violations in the implementation of the Bangalore-Mysore Expressway project and has urged the Chief Minister to immediately issue a deadline for the project promoters to commence work. It is stated that Mr. Gowda has expressed fears over the State government reportedly calling for a meeting of the Empowered Committee on Tuesday.

The committee, comprising senior officials of the State government headed by the Chief Secretary, has been constituted under the Frame Work Agreement for the project. The decisions of the committee are placed before the Cabinet for formal approval.

A similar meeting was to have been held a few months ago, but was stalled in the last minute following the directions of the Election Commission since the State was then in election mode.

Mr. Gowda told The Hindu that the project should be implemented strictly in accordance with the directions —“in letter and in spirit”— of the Supreme Court order of April 2006. The project is being implemented by NICE and the framework agreement for the project was signed in 1997.

The former Prime Minister said the government should adhere to the Cabinet decision of the Kumaraswamy government wherein it was decided to adopt the Swiss Challenge method to invite new contractors to undertake major and long-pending projects (like the Bangalore-Mysore Expressway project). Prior to the adoption of the new infrastructure policy, the then government wrote several letters to NICE to hasten the completion of the project in accordance with the Supreme Court orders.