Karnataka govt finally gives nod to Rs 2,000 crore Bangalore-Mysore Expressway project

Click here to EnlargeA visit to Bangalore is never quite complete without a trip to neighbouring Mysore. Ask any tourist and he will tell you that the Mysore Palace, the musical Brindavan Gardens and the K.R. Sagar Dam on the Cauvery are a must on his itinerary.He will also tell you that it is a 120-km, gruelling drive that often takes up to four hours. It's also a dangerous drive: 67 people were killed and 799 others injured in the 510 accidents that occurred on this congested state highway between April and August this year.Soon, however, the trip may neither be gruelling nor dangerous. The Karnataka Government has finally decided to go ahead with the Rs 2,000 crore Bangalore-Mysore Expressway (BME), the first of its kind to be taken up in the private sector in the country. On October 8, the Nandi Infrastructure Corridor Enterprise (NICE) - a consortium of companies, including the Pune-based Kalyani Group and US transportation major SAB International, which is in charge of the project - will be making a detailed audio-visual presentation to the Opposition parties in the state. The three-hour, closed-door exercise at the Vidhana Soudha in Bangalore is meant to allay their fears over the high cost of the project. This comes close on the heels of the Centre clearing the amendment of the Karnataka Industrial Areas Development Board Act to facilitate the acquisition of land for the BME.It's not the heavy tourist traffic that has set things rolling, but the fact that the stretch is a key link with the national highway (NH) system. Also, with Bangalore bursting at the seams, the princely town is itself emerging as a major industrial centre. "The pressure is enormous," says PWD Deputy Secretary Seetharam Rao. "Nearly 20,000 vehicles ply on the single-lane highway that was initially built to take a load of 3,000." Projections peg the density at 66,000 in 10 years time, but the six lane BME has been planned to carry up to 80,000 vehicles a day.The highway links apart, the expressway also aims at decongesting Bangalore.The main aim of the expressway, say its promoters, is to decongest Bangalore. Nearly 7,000 trucks go through the city daily to link up with NH 4 and NH 7. The BME will comprise a 111-km road between Mysore and Bangalore, a 41-km stretch connecting the two national highways, a 9-km link with State Highway 17 and a 3-km elevated link road with downtown Bangalore.Apart from the actual highway, the project envisages five self-sustainable townships for a population of 1 lakh each in an area of 13,000 acres along the stretch. Says NICE Director Ashok Khenny: "The expressway will be a key component in the highway system and will help regional commerce. We are trying to position the region as a centre for business, education and investment."The BME will be implemented in two phases of six years each for the construction of the highway and the townships. NICE will operate the project for 30 years after which it will be transferred to the state Government. It will be the first time that a private consortium will have town-development rights to leverage its financial burden. To be supplied with 3 TMC water and a 400 MW naptha or coal-based power generating facility, these townships will have one state-of-the-art business centre each - under the heads of corporate, commercial, industrial, heritage and eco-tourism. Residential complexes, schools and recreational facilities have also been planned.However, like all mega projects, the BME, proposed way back in 1985, has attracted much flak over the years. This has only added to the delay in its execution. Opposition parties recently walked out of the Assembly reiterating their view that the expressway was taking up too much land and too much money. "There is no need for any township, an improved road will do for now," says B.S. Yediyurappa of the BJP. Leader of the Opposition in the Council K.H. Patil also alleges that the project had been given the nod without competitive bidding. But PWD Minister C.M. Udasi contends that there is nothing unusual in awarding a project on a build-operate-transfer basis under a memorandum of understanding. An earlier offer by Bangalore-based Khoday Engineering Company was rejected on the ground that it wanted too many concessions.Udasi is determined not to let the project be shelved again. "The more we delay, the greater the cost escalation," he says, explaining how the project estimate was a mere Rs 161 crore when it was conceived. "Also the corridor will create one lakh jobs in various fields." More the reason why the project must hit the road at the earliest.Published By: AtMigration Published On: Oct 13, 1997 00:00 IST--- ENDS ---

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Karnataka govt finally gives nod to Rs 2,000 crore Bangalore-Mysore Expressway project

Decks are finally cleared for the Rs 2,000 crore Bangalore-Mysore Expressway project.

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