From esg@bgl.vsnl.net.in Thu Dec 25 17:09:16 2003
Date: Mon, 22 Dec 2003 21:20:07 +0550
From: ESG India
To: cestvr@ces.iisc.ernet.in
Subject: BMIC Project Update: Former Prime Minister Devegowda alleges
massive corruption involving Chief Minister
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Dear friends,
In an important development, former Prime Minister Shri. H. D. Devegowda has
accused the Karnataka Chief Minister Shri. S. M. Krishna, and Chief Secretary,
Shri. B. S. Patil, of being deeply involved in corrupt practices in promoting
the Bangalore Mysore Infrastructure Corridor Project.
Shri. Gowda held a Press Conference in Bangalore yesterday to bring to the public's
notice his views on the matter, and the same is featured very prominently in
all major dailies. The Kannada papers have covered the issue more extensively
(Pl. visit Kannada Prabha, Janavahini, for eg.).
We are enclosing a collection of these stories for your attention.
For more information on the BMIC project and concerns ESG has highlighted, please
visit http://www.esgindia.org/campaigns/bmic/press/bmicpresrel.htm and www.indiatogether.org/campaigns/bmic
Sincerely,
Leo Saldanha and Deepashree
Environment Support Group, India
esg@bgl.vsnl.net.in
PS: Changes in email IDs and requests to unsubscribe are being attended to.
We thank you for your patience and understanding.
The Hindu 22 December 2003
Deve Gowda sees irregularities in `land deal'
By Our Special Correspondent
Bangalore Dec. 21 . The former Prime Minister, H.D. Deve Gowda, today charged
the Chief Minister, S.M. Krishna, and the Chief Secretary, B.S. Patil, of trying
to part with Government land on the outskirts of Bangalore under the garb of
acquiring land for the Bangalore-Mysore Infrastructure Corridor.
He told presspersons here that the expressway project was yet to be implemented
although the memorandum of understanding was signed eight years ago. Real estate
had become the focus of the all parties concerned in the project.
Mr. Gowda said the people of Kanakapura, Bangalore North, Kengeri, Ramanagaram,
and Channapatna in particular were up in arms against the Government since their
land, which had been acquired for the expressway project, was now being sold
to private parties for huge amounts. "Even the Sringeri Sharada Math, which had
been allotted 30 acres of land, is likely to be dispossessed of the property
since the Chief Secretary has strictly directed the authorities to hand over
this land. Many officials have stood against the move but are being pressured
to sign as per the directions of the Chief Secretary. The Karnataka Industrial
Areas Development Board, which is in charge of acquiring land for the project,
has already had several chairmen since successive chairmen have not yielded to
the directions," he alleged.
Exhibiting copies of the Government's correspondence in the matter, including
the repeated directions issued by the Chief Secretary directing the officials
concerned to release the land in question, Mr. Deve Gowda said the `land scam'
could turn out to be yet another major one akin to the stamp paper scam.
"Apart from the Government land, the authorities had acquired private land at
a low cost from farmers and proposed to give the land to the Nandi Infrastructure
Corridor Enterprise of the Kalyani group for lease at Rs. 10 an acre a year.
The land, particularly in the vicinity of Bangalore, was now being set apart
for private housing projects and for bulk allotment to other private parties
at rates varying between Rs. 10 lakh to Rs. 35 lakh an acre."
While the land requirement for the expressway project was initially put at 8,000
acres, including the land required for developing five townships along the expressway
in Bidadi, Ramanagaram, Channapatna, Maddur, and Srirangapatna, it had been revised
to 29,000 acres now. The authorities had estimated that towards the six-lane
expressway the land requirement would be not more than 2,000 acres.
_______________________________________________________________________
CM, chief secy looting land: Gowda
TIMES NEWS NETWORK[ MONDAY, DECEMBER 22, 2003 03:29:22 AM ]
BANGALORE : Former prime minister H.D. Deve Gowda on Sunday accused chief minister
S.M. Krishna and chief secretary B.S. Patil of colluding to "loot land" for the
Bangalore-Mysore Infrastructure Corridor (BMIC) project.
Speaking to reporters here, Gowda said Patil, at the behest of Krishna had overruled
all objections from his colleagues to deviate from the original memorandum of
understanding. "Whether they have received any kickbacks or not, will be revealed
later. I am more worried that they have joined hands to loot land from innocent
people," he stated.
Gowda alleged that the corridor project had been turned into a real estate enterprise.
"The government has readily given land to Nandi Economic Corridor Enterprise
Limited, a partner of Nandi Infrastructure Corridor Enterprise (NICE), the executor
of BMIC. The company has now converted the land into sites and is selling them,"
he alleged. He was also highly critical of NICE^Òs move to raise a loan of Rs
150 crore against the land granted to it.
Quoting elaborately from a stack of official documents, Gowda alleged that Patil
in various capacities had been instrumental in perpetrating the irregularities.
"As industries secretary, not only did he grant approvals for various things
connected to the project and which clearly violate the provisions of the MoU,
but as head of the empowered committee, he bulldozed officers and urged all departments
to expedite the project," he said.
To emphasise his point, Gowda added: "At least four officers were posted to the
KIADB and moved out within a few days after taking charge because all of them
were hesitant to sign some of the land-transfer proceedings. Finally, an assistant
secretary signed it, obviously on orders from Patil and the CM^Òs office."
According to Gowda, irregularities had been noticed in various areas including
land acquisition, transfer of government land and payment of compensation. "It
has also come to light that land given to Sringeri Mutt and a cemetery were ordered
to be transferred to the company for project," he stated.
" Krishna cannot fool people with the mask of an efficient CM, with the mask
that he is the number one CM in the country. We will see that the mask comes
off. We will not allow them to loot," he stated.
Going by rule: Nice
BANGALORE : Reacting to Gowda^Òs allegations, Nandi Economic Corridor Enterprise
Limited MD Ashok Kheny said not a single piece of land had been sold, since very
little land had come into their possession. "We are doing exactly according to
what was signed originally. Not one thing has been changed. The project has been
delayed because we are following every rule," he stated.
Chief secretary B.S. Patil was unavailable for comment.
____________________________________________________________________
New Indian Express
Deve Gowda targets CM for violating clauses on BMIC project
Monday December 22 2003 00:00 IST
PTI
BANGALORE: Former Prime Minister H D Deve Gowda on Sunday charged the Karnataka
government for violating the agreement clauses on entering in to the Nandi Infrastructure
Corridor Enterprise (NICE) on the Bangalore-Mysore Infrastructure Corridor (BMIC)
project and of converting it into a `Real Estate project.'
Addressing a press conference here, he alleged that Chief Minister S M Krishna
and his Chief secretary B S Patil had colluded in granting permission to sell
30 acres to a Gurgaon based private sector firm, Nandi Infrastructure Economic
Services Ltd, which is a partner of NICE.
Gowda claimed that the land sold to this firm did not come under the purview
of the land earmarked for BMIC project.
He said that NICE was now engaged in setting up residential sites on this land
and sell it to public.
The government, Gowda said, was also trying to hand over 1,930 acres to NICE
and had been pressurising officials to transfer the land.
However, some officials have informed the government of their difficulty in handing
over the land, as it has already been granted to farmers who were cultivating
it, he said.
_______________________________________________________________________
Deccan Herald 20 Dec 2003
CM urged to scrap BMIC project
BANGALORE, DHNS:
The Environment Support Group (ESG) has welcomed the recent High Court (HC) order,
quashing land acquisition for the townships of Bangalore-Mysore Infrastructure
Corridor (BMIC) project.
Observing that the HC order is a ^Ócritical examination as to whether the controversial
BMIC proposal of Nandi Infrastructure Corridor Enterprise (NICE) is feasible,
considering that township development was only a means of raising funds so as
to subsidise the expressway costs,^Ô the ESG urged Chief Minister S M Krishna
to withdraw support to the BMIC project.
The order of Justice Chandrashekaraiah is to only allow land acquisition the
Bangalore-Mysore stretch for the four-lane expressway that has been initiated
by the Karnataka Road Development Corporation Ltd. ^ÓThe CM must now ensure the
expressway -- State Highway 17 -- works are completed post-haste. Such development
would not only boost the economy but also protect the eco-system,^Ô said ESG coordinator
Leo F Saldanha.
From esg@bgl.vsnl.net.in Thu Dec 25 17:16:40 2003
Date: Fri, 19 Dec 2003 16:07:17 +0550
From: ESG India
To: cestvr@ces.iisc.ernet.in
Subject: UPDATE: High Court quashes land acquisition for BMIC townships
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Dear Friends,
Hon'ble Justice Chandrashekaraiah of the High Court of Karnataka in a major decision,
yesterday, quashed the Land Acquisition for the townships proposed as part of
the Bangalore Mysore Infrastructure Corridor Project. He has however allowed
acquisition for the Expressway component. This has serious implications for
the future of the BMIC project itself. The Hindu report on this matter is enclosed.
Clearly without the townships, the Expressway component of the project is unviable.
This is because the expressway will now have to rely only on tolls to recover
costs. M/s Nandi Infrastructure Corridor Enterprise has been extremely secretive
on almost all details of the project, and most particularly its toll proposals.
Mr. Dharam Singh, Minister for Public Works had once stated the toll structure
to be as follows:
Tarriffs on proposed B'lore-Mysore Exp'way
Rs per km Rs per trip
Buses 2.70 756
Lorries 1.75 490
LCVs 1.05 294
Cars 1.00 280
2-wheelers 0.40 112
This clearly prohibitive toll structure was proposed when the townships cross-subsidised
the 111 kms. expressway component of the project. In light of the High Court's
decision, if the Expressway was to be singularly implemented, and investments
were to be recovered in a reasonable time, then the tolls would certainly be
much higher, and clearly beyond the reach of most.
All this apart, the High Court judgment fundamentally puts to question the Framework
Agreement entered into by M/s Nandi Infrastructure Corridor Enterprise and the
Government of Karnataka, on the basis of which land acquisition was initiated,
amending the Karnataka Industrial Area Development Act to accomodate the special
needs of this particular project. In such a scenario, it is imperative for the
Government of Karnataka must quickly withdraw all support to the BMIC project.
In response to our appeal yesterday, many many of you have sent representations
to the Chief Minister. Kindly do highlight the implications of the High Court
decision when you send your representations to the Chief Minister henceforth.
We will keep you posted on developments, and our website will have the judgment
available for download very soon.
Thank you for your cooperation and support.
Sincerely,
Leo F. Saldanha
Environment Support Group
esg@bgl.vsnl.net.in
www.esgindia.org
THE HINDU
Friday, Dec 19, 2003
http://www.hindu.com/2003/12/19/stories/2003121908590500.htm
High Court quashes land acquisition for townships
By Our Staff Reporter
BANGALORE Dec. 18. The Karnataka High Court on Thursday dismissed a batch of
writ petitions challenging the acquisition of land for the construction of the
Bangalore-Mysore Infrastructure Corridor by Nandi Infrastructure Corridor Enterprise
(NICE) between the two cities.
While the court allowed acquisition of land by the Government for the construction
of the peripheral road, link road, service road, and ramps, it however quashed
the notification acquiring land for construction of townships, convention centres,
and allotting alternative sites to the landowners.
The petitioners, K.P. Satchidanandan and others, had prayed to the court to quash
the notification issued under the Karnataka Industrial Area Development Board
(KIADB) Act on June 2, 1999, and its publication in the Gazette the next day.
The petitioners, some of them landowners, had challenged the notification of
land acquisition issued by the State Government under Section 28 (1 and 4) of
the KADB Act of 1966. The petitioners stated that the project would not only
affect their livelihood but also displace them from their houses. Some parts
of the land sought to be acquired came under green belt area.
While some petitioners said they had not been given notice that their land would
be acquired, others said they had not been heard.
Justice Chandrashekaraiah dismissed the writ petitions pertaining to "the acquisition
of land by the Government in so far as related to the formation of peripheral
road, link road, service road, inter-change and ramps are concerned (comprising
60 per cent of land acquired)".
He, however, quashed the notification for acquiring lands under Section 28 (4)
of the KIADB Act (comprising 45 per cent of the land acquired) for the construction
of townships, convention centres and to allot alternative sites to landowners.
The court allowed the respondents the liberty to proceed with the acquisition
of land, pursuant to the notification issued under Section 2 (1) of the KIADB
Act and directed the petitioners to file objections, if any. Once the objections
were filed, the respondents were directed to hear the petitioners and, thereafter,
proceed with the acquisition of land in accordance with the law.
Further, in the event of the NICE failing to execute the project in so far as
it related to the formation of peripheral roads, link roads, service roads, inter-change
and ramps were concerned, the State Government was ordered to take back the land
without paying compensation to NICE and to restore the land to the landowners.