The Bangalore-Mysore Infrastructure Corridor (BMIC) project, popularly known as NICE Road, after the consortium that builds it, is the most ambitious infrastructure project underway in the state. It not only provides seamless connectivity from Bangalore to Mysore, but also envisages the implementation of ancillary projects along this corridor to enable comprehensive development of the region.
The Phase A of the project included the construction of a Peripheral Road linking Hosur Road (NH7) to the Peenya industrial estate area at Tumkur Road (NH4) and a Link Road to connect the NICE Road from Bidadi to the core of the city. The Peripheral Road puts the NICE Road just minutes away from PrinceTown, where world class living comes to you at affordable prices in the form of great apartments in a beautifully landscaped eco-friendly locality. The Link Road will include a 3-km elevated section to cut down the travel time from the city to the Peripheral Road. The Peripheral Nice Road is a blessing for both the city and the people who would otherwise have to drive through the city and deal with the traffic congestions when they’re heading towards Chennai or in other directions such as Mumbai. The diverted traffic will in turn mean lower pollution in the city and reduced road congestion.
The first phase of the project also includes the construction of integrated modern townships along the corridor to Bidadi. This has unleashed tremendous development along its route as has been reported here in this Deccan Chronicle article. It describes how regions that have previously been difficult to access like those in the periphery of Kanakpura Road, Peenya, Magadi Road and Mysore Road are seeing a lot of development thanks to the NICE Peripheral Road.
The modern expressway, according to NICE will be an efficient, reliable and safe road constructed using state-of-the-art highway engineering and construction techniques. The road will enable safe travel at 120 km/h which will bring the travel time between Mysore and Bangalore down to just one hour. It will have underpasses and overpasses wherever necessary to bypass intersecting roads or natural obstructions, and enable uninterrupted traffic from Bangalore to Mysore. Major intersections will have interchanges to integrate other roads to the Expressway. The significance of the expressway is enhanced by the increasing importance of Bidadi industrial area –where Coke is said to be setting up the largest bottling plant in Asia – and of Mysore, where companies like Toyota, General Electric (GE) and Pepsi have already made investments.
The consortium plans to build several closely integrated self-sustainable townships along the road where it would be possible for residents to walk to schools, work, shopping areas etc. The corridor project is also supposed to have a corporate township, an industrial centre and an Eco-tourism centre. The townships are also intended to act as a bridge between the rural communities and the urban populace in a metropolitan city like Bangalore, by enabling more access to the former to urban amenities and by creating alternative locations for urban populations to reside in. The townships will move the urban consumer closer to the region’s farming communities, creating new markets and opportunities for the farmers.
Nandi Infrastructure Corridor Enterprises (NICE) plans to leverage and, at the same time, augment Bangalore’s strong reputation as an international centre for knowledge-intensive industries with this project. It hopes to find patrons in the varied and cosmopolitan population of Bangalore for these townships and counts on being a catalyst in spreading the bustling economic activity in the city outside its immediate boundaries along the entire corridor and to capitalize on it in the long term.
The NICE strategy of integrating both commercial and residential development along this corridor might be emulated by more such big projects in the future if it turns out to be as big in its scope of success as in its ambition.
