PALINI R. SWAMY writes from Bangalore: This afternoon, the 16th day of June of the year of the lord 2006, the Chief Minister’s Office (CMO) asked mediapersons engaged in filing a report on the “soft launch” of the Bangalore-Mysore expressway to rush to the CM’s home-office, ‘Krishna’.
The grand occasion that necessitated this SOS from the CMO?
Chief Minister H.D. Kumaraswamy was to “receive” a “report” on the violations of environment clearance in the Bangalore Mysore Infrastructure Corridor (BMIC) project, presented by Leo Saldanha of Environment Support Group (ESG).
Not one of the journalists present thought it fit to ask any of the following five questions:
1) Why did ESG choose to submit its report today, the day of the inauguration of a part of the project, when some newspapers had already carried leaks from the report?
2) Why did the State government arrange a special meeting for the CM to receive the report and why was the media invited to such a minor event?
3) Why (and how) did the CMO suddenly include this meeting which was not the CM’s daily engagements? Is the busy CM’s schedule so flexible?
4) Will the CMO henceforth allow all NGOs to presents reports to the CM, and will the media be invited to cover each and every one of them?
5) What does it say of the Chief Minister that he could not be present for the expressway inauguration but could find time for an NGO trying to stall it?
churumuri 
It’s amazing to see how bluntly our politicians can do the things they do and still get a pass from public. Have we all given up on this bunch and accepted them to be very corrupt and stupid? I guess answer is yes! Otherwise, how can we explain all these extremely corrupt, stupid and inefficient characters at the top?
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Vittal,
wake up mate, Our politicians represent the majority of our people. what did you expect? This is the result of Halli-guggus casting their franchise!! Sanjay Gandhi had all the right ideas when he castrated ;) thousands of them!!
Sterilized, castrated…….same thing, no?
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For a long time I followed his campaign, but Leo Saldhana has dissapointed.
This act raises serious doubts about his motives.
If he knew about the violations, why did he not petition the courts before? Why did he not go public on his own through the press, through blogs?
Seeking to piggy back on a political tangle shows poorly on one who claims to head a NON-GOVERNMENTAL ORGANIZATION.
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If the role played by Leo Saldhana and his organisation ESG in closing of the Kudremukh Iron Ore Company is any indication, one has to examine the ‘interest’ displayed in the BMIC-NICE project…(CNN IBN did a story on the falisfication of enivornmental evidence at KIOCL which unfortunately did not get the publicity it deserved)..These NGO’s are nothing but guns for hire…One has to examine their antecedants, sources of funding etc….KP being a seasoned journo would know the bulk of media is sheep in sheep’s clothing and they never would dare raise the kind of queries highlighted…Sigh
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Dear Sir,
I have been going through the developments in Karnataka from the past few years.
Firstly, I pity with NICE for going on with the project very transparently. I am aware that NICE has fought almost 350 cases and won almost all. Tel me, which company in India will continue to go on with a project with so many hurdles. Even after series of public hearings in 1997, Even after getting Environmental clearance from the Center, Even after getting all the approvals from the Government, Even after getting a green signal from the High Court and the Supreme court, Even after the fact that Supreme court has initiated criminal proceedings against the Chief Secretary and imposed fine of Rs. 5 lakhs on Government and Rs. 50000 against the MLA’s creating trouble to the Expressway, still there exists the demonic /devil’s wish with some politicians and Environmentalists, to stall the project.
Where was Leo Saldhana and KSPCB and the Government, when KIADB cut and filled huge hillocKs and made a hilly and sloppy GROUND of 400 Acres and handed over to TOYOTA in Mysore Road.
Where was Leo Saldhana and KSPCB, when ADB, cut thousands of trees inhumanely all along Mysore Road to extend the Road.
Where was Leo Saldhana and KSPCB, when Eagleton acquired 430 acres, Cut somany trees, Did not even had BMRDA permission when they opened up.
Where was leo Saldhana, when many politicians and individuals acquired 100’s of Acres Agriculture land (Including Devegowda family, Revanna holds 1000’s of Acres of land near Virajpet), denying the farmers right to cultivate.
Devegowda and family is a Bane to Karnataka. Revanna and Devegowda, are unputtable. Kumaraswamy who is better off in that family has lost his objectivity.
Environment should be based on mitigation. Stopping the project does not help. We the people of Karnataka need not learn from the frustrations of Leo Saldhana and Devegowda’s. Karnataka is already having a very Bad name in terms of its anti-development movements.
Krishna
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I hope it is not out of place to clarify our stand on events that took place over a year ago.
Firstly, meeting the Chief Minister is a prerogative of any individual or group. We were trying to meet Chief Minister’s since 1997, when we first began to raise criticisms about the project. It was only Mr. Kumaraswamy, the present Chief Minister, who consented to our request. It was a big surprise to us when he gave us so much time, and also requested us to submit our memorandum before the media which had gathered in his office.
Secondly, ours was a very public act. If the CM chose to receive it in front of the media, we are not complaining. We want everyone, especially the media, that Nandi Infrastructure Corridor Enterprise has committed gross irregularities in the process of implementing the project. All this is written up and online at our website http://www.esgindia.org. We substantiate everything we say on the basis of documentation, and the same is online including maps. Maps don’t lie.
Third, media has played a rather skewed role in covering mainly those aspects of the project that NICE has projected. The media has also bought the myth created by Mr. Ashok Kheny, MD of NICE, that Supreme Court has backed the project the way he wants to build it. This is an utter lie and also a matter presently being challenged as Contempt of Court. What the Hon’ble Supreme Court has held is that the project must and only must be built in terms of the alignment and project features as endorsed in the Framework Agreement and statutory authorities, such as KSPCB, MOEF, etc. The Court has never said that the road can be built wherever convenient to NICE and its supporters.
Fourth: Commissioning a project is a very legal act. It has to be endorsed by regulatory agencies. The June 15th “soft opening” of the Peripheral Road Section of the BMIC project (really a very tiny section of the overall project completed by NICE) is clearly an illegal act, as it did not have the sanction of various regulatory authorities. The fact that this was popular amongst a section of the local population, Monhandas Pai of Infosys included, does not make it legal.
Fifth. On 7th July 2007, the Judges of the Karnataka Stat Environment Appellate Authority will conduct a site visit to confirm the degree to which NICE has violated project conditions, when building the Peripheral Road section. Had such an inspection been done a long time ago by higher Courts, this problem of debating a fact would never have arisen. The fact that this is now happening is a most welcome beginning to put to rest all controversies about who is right.
Finally, ESG works on a variety of issues. Some of activities gain attention, because we raise critical questions about projects that blatantly skewed towards middle class and elite aspirations. Certain sections of the media have unfortunately identified themselves with such skewed perceptions, and there is no use asking why: we all know why. ESG will continue to work on as many issues of public concern (not merely middle class concern) as our resources permit. Any of you are welcome to our office to debate your concerns.
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Mr.Saldanha,
At the end of the day, you do come across as anti-development. It is very very difficult to believe that this expressway is somehow more harmful to the environment than any other road including the Golden Quadrilateral. Almost the entire stretch between Bengalooru and Mysooru is urbanized. There won’t be any loss of vegetation. And as someone who is based in Bengalooru, you do know the needs of traffic.
You may well raise valid points (which I highly doubt) but please propose solutions too. As of now, it just seems like you are hitching a ride on the CM’s (and his family’s) personal vendetta against this project. There is probably a bigger story of personal gain/loss here among the political class that the likes of you are unwilling to cover because it doesn’t suit your agenda.
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GK3S
You are very restrained in your comment toward Mr. Saldanha. I think he is a hired gun who is seeking to benefit from these …” projects that blatantly skewed towards middle class and elite aspirations.” What rot is he talking about! Next we should have the railway link torn up all over India and let people walk so that people like Leo can create environment awareness. Better still, we should all lie in bed dreaming about our middle-class elitist aspirations and let the likes of Leo S and others run the show! Sheesh this is disgusting–where do these idiots come from? Another great expose on these NGO humbugs KP!
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Hello everyone,
Why not make an IT corridor over our houses?
What’s written on this page is perfect example of IGNORANCE IS BLISS. How many of us ever wonder how a road was built when we drive on it?
Do we ever feel the pain of a man who loses his land because a politician happened to purchase some right on the proposed road alignment.
We’ll understand that when some day someone acquires our houses to build an IT corridor. Better still when he puts a curve on the road to make it pass over our houses to save the land of a politician, who’ll then put up a shopping mall, gated community or a glitzy IT Park or a SEZ, so that people like us can be feel comfortable of `proud to be indians’.
We are today a country marginlised through information. We are country happy to be fed on trivia.
Dr. Manmohan Singh was bold enough to state that we are now a country of crony capitalists. We haven’t understood the impact of that statement. As for us who’ve written on this page, we would like to stay in our own cocoons and feel good abt it so long as nothing happens to us.
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