No one can say that driving in Bengaluru city is enjoyable or even relaxing. However, there is a road in its outlying areas with an off-the-India driving experience.
For instance, the road is only accessible via tolled exit and entrance ramps where no pedestrian or cyclist would suddenly emerge. While on the left side of this road sections of large grassy median as well as emergency lane at some intervals would remind Bengaluru’s IT workers the tree-lined parkways in United States.
Bangalore-Mysore Infrastructure Corridor (BMICP) popularly known as NICE Road after its sponsor leading contractor Nandi Infrastructure Corridor Enterprises was originally planned to make driving from Bengaluru to Mysuru a breeze.
Nevertheless, thirty years since the project was conceived, NICE Road still remains just a link road between the southeast parts of city namely IT & ITES corridor and industrial corridor in southwest instead of being a highway connecting two major cities in Karnataka 140 km apart.
Meanwhile, two wheelers are forbidden at night. The recent fatal crash involving over speeding vehicles, rise in toll charges and alteration of speed limits indicate how NICE has failed to meet its original objectives.
The aspirational road of garden city
Deve Gowda who later turned out his pet project’s worst critic made Nice Road. In 1995 when he still served as Chief Minister for Karnataka, Mr Gowda inked an agreement with US based Ashok Kheny who heads SAB Engineering and Construction for the construction of this road before becoming Indian Prime Minister one year later.
There was also a framework agreement for world class infrastructure development around NICE Road drawn up in 1997; it envisaged construction along with five townships including expressway ring roads and link roads having multiple entry points or exits throughout their way.
The ring road was designed to connect three important highways: NH48 i.e. Bengaluru-Chennai National Highway 48, NH4 Bengaluru-Mumbai National Highway 4 and NH275 Bengaluru-Mysore National Highway 275 (formerly State Highway 17). The main target was relieving the garden city of its traffic packed jams in the early in the morning.
When conceiving and designing NICE Road, as well as having toll ramps access it was far ahead of its time for private player. It was still a time when poorly laid national highways were subject to public scrutiny and debate on Public-Private-Partnership.
This ambitious vision meant acquiring nearly around twenty thousand acres, primarily from farmers including approximately seven thousand acres for roads and the rest for townships. Angry due to fear of loss of land and livelihood among farmers who owned productive irrigated agriculture land they resisted against such project. They pointed out that compensation given was insignificant because they had relinquished their most valued posession.
Disputes over land acquisition
NICE faced accusations that it secretly worked with state government officials in acquiring an excess amount of land through fraudulent means during this process. Others queried why a project of this scale was necessary when SH 17 could be upgraded instead; environmentalists said it would be very detrimental.
Mr. Gowda who signed original agreement now changed his position accusing NICE over excess acquisition of some eleven thousand six hundred acres and various deviations from initial framework agreement.
Letters to the prime ministers, and protests by Mr. Gowda along side court cases, which are being processed in different courts (tribunals) including the Supreme Court of India, High Courts and lower judiciary. NICE emerged victorious in most of them; but they also lost some recent ones.
Nonetheless, according to a judgment by the apex court in 2020, NICE is only allowed to use its land for housing projects if they are situated within specially designated townships as per the framework agreement (not intersections on the outskirts of Bengaluru).
The Janata Dal (Secular), a regional party headed by Mr. Gowda with huge support base in Bengaluru Rural, Ramanagara and Mandya districts where the proposed road passes through has come out against the project now.
At around the same time, State Highway 17 from Bangalore was expanded into a four-lane road during 2004-2005 by government of Karnataka. Afterward SH 17 became NH 275 before upgrading into a six lane expressway opened on March 2023.
Meanwhile, NICE also fumbled on so many other fronts such as laying concrete road as per requirements under framework agreement. This took time.
Elsewhere too in several patches that were deemed dangerous areas company did kind of altered work in recent past. Additionally rising toll fares have been problematic.
In between all these events however NICE promoter Ashok Kheny who engaged with political elections became an MLA and later joined Congress Party. Violation of the framework agreement for excessive land acquisition by NICE was indicted through recommendation made by former minister T.B Jayachandra led legislature house committee at 2016; it also goes ahead to indicate that at least there were large scale irregularities perpetrated during execution of this project either involving illegal mining or tolling without roads made from concrete.
NICE has till date done South Bengaluru ring road (41 km) and an 8.5 km link road to the ring road from the city. Only 4 km of it has become expressway.
Time to wind up?
Although the project was stalled, yet NICE land acquisitions around Bengaluru boomed in value. The booming real estate market on both sides of NICE Road has also seen many (instances of) lands along it being “denotified,” or declared as surplus and no more needed for the proposed real estate development instead of being used as part single large project as stipulated under the law that is required by this kind of an infrastructure proposal. Besides, a significant proportion of this land falls within Bruhat Bengaluru Mahanagara Palike (BBMP) jurisdictions where prices are already high.
The government’s intention was to undermine NICE Road when H.D. Kumaraswamy led a JD (S)-BJP alliance in Karnataka during 2006-2007. A peripheral ring road (PRR), which runs approximately parallel to NICE road with slightly shifted alignment, was one such alternative; furthermore, among his choices were alternative townships, including one at Bidadi about 30 km off Bangalore and very close to a township proposed by NICE.
However, PRR is still inked now and then. It has encountered resistance from farmers but more importantly; cost of acquiring land for this purpose is too prohibitive hence making its implementation impossible as per today situation. Presently, there are plans by state govt to connect nice road towards ppr and encircle the entire city. Additionally namma metro project may be allowed so that NICE can offer its fairly large median for this purpose
The Bangalore Mysore Infrastructure Corridor Project, which has become irrelevant with a new six lane expressway that has reduced the travel time between the two cities from about three hours to ninety minutes. There are calls that have been made for the State government to put an end to the project officially.
