Bengaluru, September 7 (Daily Kiran) : H.D. Deve Gowda, former Prime Minister of India, has raised significant concerns regarding the Bengaluru-Mysuru Infrastructure Corridor Project (BMICP) in a letter to Karnataka Chief Minister D.K. Shivakumar. The open letter questions the state cabinet’s recent decision to allocate 1,453 sites to those who lost land due to the project.
Deve Gowda argues that this decision contradicts Supreme Court rulings and the government’s prior stance, which prohibits the creation of sites on land acquired for roads and infrastructure under the project’s framework agreement.
He specifically inquired about the proposed sites in villages such as Madavara, Kengeri, Kommghatta, and Somapura, questioning when and by whom these sites were approved. Citing recent High Court comments on the financial dealings of Nandi Infrastructure Corridor Enterprises Limited (NICE), he accused the project of serving private interests rather than the public good.
In his letter, Deve Gowda asked whether the cabinet’s decision amounted to a violation of court orders by permitting site development. He expressed concern that instead of benefiting those who lost land, the real beneficiaries might be NICE and its investors.
The former Prime Minister noted that when the High Court’s division bench ruled that NICE was entitled to planning approval for group housing schemes on interchange land, the government challenged this in the Supreme Court. The apex court upheld the government’s position, clearly stating that NICE is bound by the framework agreement. It also emphasized that creating sites on land assigned for road infrastructure violates both the framework agreement and the original objectives of the BMICP, which aims to alleviate urban congestion.
Deve Gowda further highlighted that the court had called for a forensic audit of the company’s accounts but expressed doubts about its feasibility, suggesting that the state government was aiding project promoters in illegally profiting from their assets.
In closing, he questioned whether the cabinet had proven the court’s suspicions correct and whether it had approved site development against the Supreme Court’s decisions. He challenged the Chief Minister to clarify whether the real beneficiaries of these sites would be the land losers or the investors in NICE, prompting a call for transparency from the state.
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