Date:10/08/2004 URL: http://www.thehindu.com/2004/08/10/stories/2004081007710400.htm

Karnataka

Krishna wants BMIC project scrapped

By Our Special Correspondent

BANGALORE, AUG. 9. The former Chief Minister S.M. Krishna, apparently upset by the controversy with regard to the Bangalore-Mysore Infrastructure Corridor project, has suggested to the Chief Minister, N. Dharam Singh, to call off the project.

In a letter to Mr. Dharam Singh, the former Chief Minister said that to put an end to the controversy, save thousands of acres of farmland and the environment, and in the light of the four-laning of the existing Bangalore-Mysore highway, it would be appropriate to wind up the BMIC project. Further, the lands acquired for the project could be reconveyed to the original owners.

The former Chief Minister and Janata Dal (S) President, H.D. Deve Gowda, has demanded a CBI probe into the acquisition of land for the project.

`People being misled'

Mr. Krishna said what had prompted him to write the letter were the attempts being made by certain sections both on the floor of the Legislature and outside to attack the Government, which had been headed by him, the Congress, and some of its leaders to mislead the people with false information. Hence, it was necessary to put an end to such attempts once and for all.

The former Chief Minister said all the agreements and others developments pertaining to the project were finalised during the chief ministership of H.D. Deve Gowda and the late J.H. Patel. Meanwhile, the Karnataka High Court was also seized of the matter pertaining to acquisition of lands for the project. A single judge had ruled that the acquisition of lands should be restricted to the expressway alignment only and, following an appeal, the matter was now pending before a Division Bench of the High Court.