BMIC Updates

‘Sly note’: NICE gains land worth Rs. 30,000 crore http://www.hindu.com/2008... The Karnataka Government on Feb 15th, 2008 disclosed to the Karnataka High Court that manipulation by way of a “note”, reportedly by the then Public Works Department (PWD) Secretary, had resulted in unreasonable concessions to the company implementing the BMIC project. However, no date has been mentioned in the note. The present PWD Secretary, T. Sukumar, in an affidavit before the court, stated that the then PWD Secretary seems to have introduced a note in the government files stating that the amount of land, which would revert to the Government, was only 11,966 acres, instead of 14,255.7 acres. However, the name of the then PWD Secretary has not been mentioned in the affidavit. The affidavit, filed in connection with a contempt of court case, stated that the note enabled Nandi Infrastructure Corridor Enterprises Ltd. (NICE), which is implementing the project, to get ownership of an additional 2,289.7 acres. The present market value of the 2,289.7 acres is about Rs. 30,000 crore, according to the affidavit. Mr. Sukumar stated, “Manipulation in the records by means of introduction of the note has resulted in unreasonable concessions being made available to NICE and at the cost of the Government…. This note had vitiated all further actions taken by the Government and its functionaries, and they relied upon this note for their further actions.” “Had the note not been there and had these functionaries been notified or informed about the contents of the Framework Agreement and land acquisition agreement signed in October 1998, the government functionaries would not have permitted the subsequent agreements which resulted in unreasonable concessions to the company,” Mr. Sukumar stated.

Jan 14 2008
BWSSB defended before the Karnataka High Court its decision not to permit Nandi Infrastructure Corridor Enterprise (NICE) to shift water and sewerage lines in four locations in Bangalore, saying that any such move would affect water supply and sanitation in several areas.

The BWSSB, in an affidavit filed in reponse to a petition before the KAHC by NICE against the delay by the board in shifting water and sanitary lines, defended its decision not to permit NICE to shift water and sewerage lines in four locations in Bangalore, saying that any such move would affect water supply and sanitation in several areas.

NICE Said:
It said, on December 27, 2006 it had written to the Chief Engineer (M), BWSSB, stating that water pipelines had to be shifted at four locations in Bangalore to enable it to complete the expressway.

NICE wanted the 1,625 mm diameter MS transmission water line at Uttarahalli-Kengeri Junction at Chennasandra crossing, 600 MM diameter water line at the Interconnection Loop Road towards Electronics City, the 225 mm diameter sanitary pipeline at Panterpalya, parallel to the BDA Road and the 600 mm diameter water supply line near PES College to be shifted and had deposited Rs. 77.10 lakh with the BWSSB towards shifting of these utility lines. It said once the project was completed, the lines would be reconnected. NICE said it had written several times to the BWSSB to permit it to shift the lines to enable it to complete the project.

It said the water board had not taken any action to shift the utilities. It said the shifting of the lines was necessary for it to complete the project.

BWSSB Said:
Opposing the petition, the BWSSB said the water lines could not be shifted as they were essential for providing water to residents of western and northern parts of Bangalore and to several establishments such as the Indian Air Force (IAF) station near Yelahanka, Border Security Force (BSF) headquarters in Yelahanka and the International Airport (BIAL) which is coming up at Devanahalli. It said the 1625 mm diameter water line at Uttarahalli transmitted water to the city and that it ran from Tataguni to Hegganahalli. This, was the main water supply line to areas coming in the west and north of Bangalore and any disruption would cause hardship to the citizens. Similarly, water to residents of Banashankari 3rd Stage was being fed by the 600 mm diameter line and, therefore, this line too could not be shifted.
Other pipelines are in places where road routes are not finalised and NICE has not consulted the Board in this regard, BWSSB has contended.

The board said after it had taken a technical opinion, it had decided not to go ahead with the shifting of the water and sanitary lines. BWSSB also said that it would refund the amount deposited by NICE in this regard.

The court posted the petition to January 21, for final disposal, while giving opportunity to NICE to file its rejoinder statement.

Court's Statements:
Source: TNN
“If they (NICE) are ready to undertake these works in a set time frame with the help of a third party, and without affecting the public, why can’t you allow them to do so,’’ the judge asked BWSSB’s counsel before adjourning the hearing.

Jan 23 2008
The court asked NICE to suggest an alternative mechanism with regard to the temporary shifting of four water pipes to enable early completion of the BMIC project. Justice Anandbyra Reddy will hear NICE’s suggestions on Jan 24 2008. “You (BWSSB) can’t stop this road, which will benefit millions of people in the future and become part of Bangalore’s history,’’ said Justice Reddy after reading BWSSB’s objections, filed by chief engineer T Venkataraju.

BWSSB said there are technical obstacles to undertake the project. The city’s water supply will be cut off if the diversion or shifting of the 1625-mm diameter transmission line is undertaken, said Venkataraju.

“Water supply to western and northern Bangalore will be affected and stoppage will result in inadequate supply of 300 million litres. Re-alignment of the road route or an alternate technology may be considered,’’ added Venkataraju. NICE claimed it has already paid the money, including Rs 77.10 lakh for shifting of the 1625-mm diameter pipe at the Channasandra intersection on Uttarahalli-Kengeri Road. The construction of the overbridge is almost complete, but BWSSB’s decision to suspend work on 0.5-km stretch at the intersection has thrown a spanner in the works.

To be concluded ...

Sources:
The Hindu ( NICE: BWSSB defends refusal to shift water line )
Deccan Herald (We'll refund NICE fee, says BWSSB)
TNN, epaper

Ranjani Govind of The Hindu apparently drove through the road and reports that Somapura near the BMIC corridor now has concrete homes, streetlights and roads with underground sewage facilities.

* The cool ride with numerous water bodies, green patches and hilly terrains on either side hardly reminded us of the sticky path that the entire project was on throughout the opening phase.
* ... serpentine walls on either side of the corridor that has been specially designed to be a noise barrier
* Overpasses for crossing, bridges for cattle and culverts for cables are all a part of it.

Basic facilities
The vision just hasn’t ended there. Ashok Kheny has now adopted 143 villages which are close to the NICE corridor to develop them in every way, provide housing and all the connected facilities for villagers to have a comfortable living.

Somapura, about four km interior of the BMIC corridor, is the first village adopted by NICE for improving the physical infrastructure. It has new homes in exchange of land and huts that were given away for the road project.

The inhabitants of the small village now have 23 concrete houses built in various sizes, with 2-3 bedrooms, garden, drinking water flowing in taps, water tank for the layout, electricity, meter box, street lights, cable TV, sewage system, tarred roads, primary health centres, schools, job training centres, community halls, places of worship and the like.

Says Kamalamma, a middle aged resident of the area who lives in her new 3-bedroom home, “When the proposal was put forth by Mr. Kheny, we were reluctant, but had to accept it as we welcomed the alternative arrangements for a living. Today, we are proud owners of this land, feeling so much a part of the whole corridor project. Thatched roof and mud flooring sounds primitive to us now,” she jokes.

Jobs provided
Kamalamma’s is a huge 1,400 sq. ft. house where one could see tiled bathrooms and even a pooja room and a foyer! “One member of each family is provided with a job connected to the corridor work,” she says, her eyes gleaming with pride.

A warehouse for the farmers’ produce and hospitals are what they will soon have from NICE to make their stay more comfortable.

“It took a year for us to complete the houses. Everything was done after holding talks with the owners about their requirements. The plan took off only after they agreed to the design elements in the living room, kitchen and bathroom,” says Manjunath, GM, Public Relations and Liaison, NICE.

Click to read more about it, including about Ashok Kheny's background.

you can read the drum story here. Justice Cyriac Joseph is right everybody beats the BMIC drum nicely. But the problem is that it is NICE that put the BMIC drum right in the middle of the road for everybody to beat. There is no transparency in the project at all. for projects of this scale they should have estimates to the second decimal place. but nobody knows how much land is actually required for the roads and 5 townships. how much was actually sanctioned in the original framework. Why was a new agreement signed? Why is the extra land required? What was the compensation package, what were the terms of clearences. The worst thing is nobody in the media did an authoratative study on it. This has been going on for so long right, why cant NICE comeout with the details? Why is it that ESG is putting the maps and not NICE? whose project is it? NICE website has not been updated in 7.5 years. In one of the reports i read the the framework agreement is confidential. but why really? every person who comes to power aks for the papers. why? the govt does not have that in their records? bangalore is already suffering from > 45,000 acres of encroachment, we can do with some transparency on this one. irrespective what the 'legal' course is i would like to see a third party audit of all the land transactions on this one. this does not mean i am against the project. I really want to see the PRR complete day before yesterday. But no hanky panky at the expense of KA please. Bharat Sagar, about the lakes, if you get a chance can you see if they have something like pipes and canals to let water in and out of the lakes. I saw the maps on ESG cannot make it out from that. But those maps have good amount of info about the road design. pretty cool actually. someday will upload all the intersection and toll booth designs.