No more roadblocks to BMIC

No more roadblocks to BMIC
The cabinet meeting on Tuesday spelt good news for many. While land was handed over to NICE to clear bottlenecks on the BMIC project, there was much to cheer about for BMRC too as Metro Rail extension was okayed. To put an end to the property tax debate, the revised SAS finally got the official nod
TIMES NEWS NETWORK

Bangalore: The Bangalore Mysore Infrastructure Corridor (BMIC) project is slowly getting completed in fits and starts, thanks to protracted litigation and political machinations. But finally, there’s light at the end of the tunnel.
The cabinet on Tuesday decided to hand over 102 acres of land to Nandi Infrastructure Corridor Enterprises (NICE), BMIC project promoters, to eliminate the bottlenecks on the link and peripheral ring roads (PRR). This grant is restricted only to link and peripheral ring roads; there is no clearance for land grant related to expressway connecting Bangalore and Mysore.
Home minister V S Acharya said except at Gottigere, the land will be given to NICE as per the Supreme Court and Karnataka High Court’s directions. “At Gottigere, the court is yet to decide whether construction of a bridge is allowed across the tank or to make use of adjacent forest land for road construction,’’ he added.
Prior to cabinet clearance, the empowered
committee on BMIC headed by chief secretary Sudhakar Rao had given clearance to NICE to go ahead with pending works relating to BMIC. Barring a few patches, where land was not made available by the government, NICE has completed the major portion of link and peripheral roads.
With this green signal, NICE is all set to take up the works in the bottlenecks. Due to stalling by the Kumaraswamy government, the BMIC project was entangled in a legal battle for four years. The company has filed a contempt case against the state government before the apex court for disobeying its order.
Not willing to go against the SC order, governor Rameshwar Thakur’s executive committee issued an order paving way for completion of peripheral and link road. 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.
Interestingly, Yeddyurappa’s cabinet has decided to scrap the one-man judicial commission probing the alleged transfer of excess lands to BMIC. It also scrapped the Swiss challenge method mooted by Kumaraswamy to stall the project.
MAIN HURDLES
Link Road: 9.1 km 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, Bruhat Bangalore Mahanagara Palike (BBMP) yet to communicate approval for diversion road at ring road and integrating the bridge and the ramps across the Outer Ring Road (ORR), pending for the past 18 months
Between 2.6 km and 2.9 km near Hosakerehalli.
Between 7.8 km and 8.3 km near Hemmigepura village, required for formation of link road
PERIPHERAL ROAD: Total length 41 km, from NH-7 (Bangalore Hosur Road) to NH-4 (Bangalore - Tumkur 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 to provide entry and exit to peripheral road and some land near U M Kaval village required to relocate extra high tension electric power line to facilitate construction of peripheral road and construction of 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 some land near Kengeri for construction of ramps and slip road to provide entry and exit to peripheral road
Between 33.6 km and 33.8 km near Magadi Road junction near Hosahally Gollarapalya required for construction of ramps and slip road to facilitate entry and exit to peripheral road
EXPRESSWAY: Land required for formation 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 villages. Government is yet to transfer land to company