D K Shivakumar for reviving NICE’s Mysuru expressway plan, takes on Deve Gowda

Bengaluru: Taking a dig at former Prime Minister H D Deve Gowda, Deputy Chief Minister D K Shivakumar sprung a surprise on Tuesday by saying he is in favour of the controversial Nandi Infrastructure Corridor Enterprise (NICE) road between Bengaluru and Mysuru. He termed the newly-inaugurated expressway as “badly-designed”, saying motorists do not even have access to restrooms along the road. 

Shivakumar told reporters that Gowda had cleared the NICE project when he was the CM but started opposing it as they had a huge parcel of land in Bidadi and around 400 acres of land in Devagiri. “They blackmailed. All the officers were scared. Had the Deve Gowda family not opposed it, Ramanagara, Channapatna, Kanakapura, Malavalli, Mandur and Mandur would have flourished,” he said. 

“I am all for the NICE project,” Shivakumar said, adding the six-lane road will contribute to the development of Vokkaliga heartlands of Bengaluru Rural and Mandya.

“I do not know if our government wants to take it up but it is still relevant even after the expressway is ready. NICE had planned townships along the road. This would have created employment opportunities. Now, people working in Bidadi are staying in Bengaluru. We must create satellite towns,” he said. 

He also said there was a lot of opposition when the S M Krishna government wanted to charge Rs 3 lakh per acre to Infosys. “We gave around 200 acres. This helped Infosys create a White House like facility which the government would not have been able to create,” he said. 

When asked about NICE’s proposal to build the peripheral ring road project, Shivakumar said the proposal has come but our officers are afraid. “If there is a negative approach, the project will not succeed,” he said. “If NICE has got excess land, it is the mistake of our officers. We have to honor the framework agreement. Otherwise, they will go to court,” he said.