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’s 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’s 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’s  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.