Krishna hits back at Gowda

Mr Krishna in his letter to the chief minister said all developments concerning the BMIC project occurred during the tenure of the Janata Dal government.

BANGALORE, DHNS:

Stung by the allegations made by former prime minister H D Deve Gowda on the Bangalore- Mysore Infrastructure Corridor (BMIC) Project, former chief minister S M Krishna on Monday sought Chief Minister N Dharam Singh to shelve the project and restore the acquired land to its owners.

In a five-page letter to Mr Singh, copies of which were released to the press here, Mr Krishna urged the chief minister to initiate a time-bound programme for shelving the project and returning to farmers their land the government had acquired.

The developments give a new twist to the BMIC controversy close on the heels of Mr Gowda demanding a CBI probe into alleged irregularities targeting the Krishna government.

Mr Krishna in his letter sought to drive home the point that all developments concerning the BMIC project occurred during the Janata Dal government headed by Mr Gowda and former chief minister the late J H Patel.

Mr Krishna said it was during Mr Gowda’s regime that an Memorandum of Understanding (MoU) was signed on April 3, 1997, for laying an Express Highway between Bangalore and Mysore.

In the MoU, it was mentioned that the matters relating to acquisition of lands for the project could be disputed only in a London court and it was published on October 27,1998. The land, so proposed to be acquired, included 18,894.26 acres private land and 7,178.02 acres government land. For the government land, the rate fixed was Rs 10 per acre by the Janata Dal regime. A lease in this regard was signed in 1997.

Mr Krishna charged that the Public Works Department approved the project on November 20, 1995 and an agreement with the executing agency and the state was signed on May 20, 1995, in presence of Mr Gowda.

Besides the express highway, the project also had a provision for creating township, corporate centres, commercial complexes, industrial township, heritage centre and eco-tourism centres among others, besides providing link roads to the existing highway on NH-17 (Bangalore-Mysore).

Mr Krishna said his government took a decision to broaden the present road keeping in mind the fact that a large area of irrigated lands would be affected if the original project was taken up. Besides, the project was in cold-storage for a long period and the vehicular movement between Bangalore and Mysore was on the increase. “If the decision by the Congress Government was aimed at grabbing land as alleged, it would not have taken decision to upgrade the present road”, he said.

“The allegations, both inside and outside the House, has led to confusion in the mind of the public and hence I request you to shelve the project and return the land acquired”, Mr Krishna said in his letter. The existing road could be upgraded into four-lane at an early date, he added.

“This is a conspiracy to weaken the Congress, its leaders and to sap the morale of its rank and file”, he charged.