Karnakata High Court on Thursday ordered contempt notices to State Chief Secretary P B Mahishi, Commerce and Industry Secretary K M Shivkumar, Urban Development Secretary Subhash Chandra, PWD Secretary Sudhir Krishna and Nandi
Infrastructure Corridor Enterprises (NICE) Managing Director Ashok Kheny and its seven other directors.
The Division Bench headed by Justice K Shreedhar Rao ordered notices following a civil contempt complaint filed by Pramod Layout Residents Welfare Association, Pantharapalya, Bangalore. The complainant has alleged violation of a HC order in May 2005 that had directed State Government and NICE to implement the Bangalore Mysore Infrastructure Corridor (BMIC) project as originally conceived.
The 9-km link road for linking Bangalore city to BMIC Expressway had a different alignment when they obtained required clearances during 1998. But, in 2001, the alignment was changed in a way that the road passes through Pramod Layout where about 500 houses have been acquired. Now, NICE has demolished a shed and a water tank in the layout, affecting water supply to the layout, the complaint has stated.
PIL Dismissed
The Karnataka High Court rejected a PIL by some villagers of Channasandra who had sought a direction to NICE to put up a connecting bridge for Uttarahalli, Channasandra and Kengeri roads, before it removed the road connecting Channasandra and Kengeri villages.
The petition filed by Y G Panduranga Shetty and several other residents of Channasandra stated that NICE had started digging the road connecting Channasandra and Kengeri villages for the works of BMIC project.
This would lead to villagers losing access since no other road exists between the villages, they said while seeking provision for an alternative before disturbing the existing road. The Division Bench comprising Chief Justice Cyriac Joseph and Justice Ashok B Hinchigeri observed that villagers could file a civil suit or approach district DC and State Government for relief. It dismissed the petition without prejudice to the petitioners’ right to do so.
‘Drum on a road’
During the hearing, Chief Justice Cyriac Joseph commented, referring to the BMIC project which has incurred several litigations including a few PILs: “This one project in Bangalore has become like a drum in middle of the road. If a drum is kept in middle of a road, everybody would beat it once and go.”
