BENGALURU: The Centre's ambitious plan to connect Bengaluru and Mysuru via road within 90 minutes is likely to take much longer. It's been five months since a contract was signed between the National Highways Authority of India (NHAI) and the contractor Dilip Buildcon to convert the existing four-lane Bengaluru-Mysuru Expressway into a six-lane one apart from four service lanes.
But the project has not made much progress. For, a mandatory clearance certificate from the Forest department for a stretch of the road through its land is not coming through.
The access controlled road for the Rs 4,915-crore project has been designed such that the vehicles can easily ply at 100km/hr. To ensure speedy completion, the117-km route was split into two packages: a 56-km Bengaluru-Nidaghatta section and a 61-km Nidaghatta-Mysuru section. Since it emerged as the lowest bidder for the tender called, the Bhopal-based firm was selected to implement both the packages on April 20.A highly placed government source said that the project requires 725 hectares of land in total. "Nearly 70 per cent of the required land has been acquired by the NHAI. It is mandatory to acquire 80 per cent of land before the work on any project begins. However, land acquisition is not the main issue here. Nearly 30 hectares of land pass through the land belonging to the Forest department at Ramanagara and Mandya. It is not a sensitive land but patches where people have built huts,," he said.
The project can progress only if the Forest department gives NHAI the green signal to utilise the 30 hectares of land. It would also ensure it is in possession of the mandatory 80 per cent land before the project commences," the source added. "Many official letters have been exchanged and meetings held between the NHAI and the Forest department but nothing seems to happen," another official added.
The other pockets of land required are 26 hectares belonging to Nandi Infrastructure Corridor Limited which they have now denotified after a High Court verdict three months ago was given in favour of NHAI and parcels of land where houses for the poor have been constructed under a State government scheme along the Bengaluru-Mysuru road.
"The Railways has given its consent already to NHAI to construct four Road Over Bridges above the Railway line along the route," he said.If the forest clearance comes through, the project can commence next month and the six-lane will be in place by October 2020, the source said. "A new agreement needs to be inked with Dilip Buildcon. It will be given 2.5 years to complete it but the contractor is capable of completing it within two years," the source added.
According to Principal Chief Conservator of Forests, Karnataka, Punati Sridhar, "The Deputy Conservator of Forests at Ramanagara had submitted their report to his office but the nodal officer wanted some clarifications. The proposal from our side will be sent to the government next week." Mandya District Conservator of Forests has already completed his submitted his proposal to the government regarding the land needed there.