‘Renegotiate airport deal’

‘Renegotiate airport deal’
The Congress said the airport is only a glorified dungeon
BENGALURU


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: Opposition Con gress members in the Assembly demanded a thorough and comprehensive renegotiation of the tri-partite agreement between the Centre, the state government and the Consortium that built the Bengaluru international airport at Devanahalli.

“The BIA is no more than a glorified warehouse and a sophisticated godown. It is neither common-man friendly nor extends minimum protocol to the VIPs including MLAs. The design and the structure is not in accordance with the culture and tradition of our state, which is in violation of the agreement. It is high time that an inquiry is ordered,” senior Congress leader, D.K. Shivakumar said, when he raised the issue on Thursday.

After a 90-minute debate, infrastructure minister, G.

Janardhana Reddy said the government favours an inquiry by the house committee.

Earlier, Mr Shivakumar was joined by the leader of the Opposition, Mallikarjuna Kharge, former deputy chief minister, Siddaramaiah and former minister, Gurupadappa Nagamarpalli who compared BIA with Hyderabad and described the former as a glorified dungeon.

At one point in time, Mr Shivakumar alleged that the BIA had cheated the Centre and the state government by obtaining excess land which it is indulging in commercial exploitation by renting out the area for various business establishments.

“There is not even seating arrangements for the visitors in the lounge and the prices of snacks in the restaurant are exhorbitant, actually out of reach for the common man. The design and structure of the airport are not what was approved by the cabinet headed by the then chief minister S.M.Krishna in 2001. The state government had clearly told the consortium that the airport should reflect the tradition and culture of the state but it is not so,” Mr Shivakumar added.

According to him, there is a pull out clause in the agreement wherein the state government can withdraw its stakes by paying Rs 150 crore to the consortium. “I am told that the BIA is all set to expand the terminal by putting up a temporary structure. The authorities must be told not to go ahead with the work till an inquiry by the house committee is held,” he said.