The High Court of Karnataka has directed the State government to scrap the controversial Bengaluru-Mysuru Infrastructure Corridor (BMIC) project. Over the last 25 years, only one kilometer of the 111-km expressway has been constructed. None of the five planned townships to decongest the city, proposed back in 1995, have been developed yet. In its January 9 verdict, a Division Bench of Justice D. K. Singh and Justice Venkatesh Naik T. said, "The beautiful and futuristic concept of decongesting the city as conceived under the Project Technical Report (PTR) of 1995 has been killed at the cost of the citizens and the environment... it would be in the interest of the city, citizens, environment and the future to re-look at the project and take appropriate action for fresh and new project discarding the old one." The court dismissed a 2010 petition from a landowner seeking more compensation after already receiving payment with consent. It called the BMIC project "a classic example of the non-commitment to public planning by people in power," pointing to issues like corruption, bureaucracy, and litigation. Though the PTR foresaw a population of 70 lakh in 1995 and planned to build five townships between Bengaluru and Mysuru to manage growth, Bengaluru's population now stands at 1.4 crore. Despite this, only 47 km of peripheral roads have recently been built. The Bench also criticized project proponents Nandi Infrastructure Corridor Enterprises Ltd (NICE) and Nandi Economic Corridors Enterprises (NECEL), saying they "are collecting huge tolls by constructing only peripheral roads and toll plazas" while sitting on large land banks without building the expressway. The government had signed a Framework Agreement with NICE in 1997, but both the plan and contract have failed. The court said, "The infrastructure facilities are crumbling down. The environment is badly affected... The State government, therefore, must take necessary decision for fresh planning by discarding the FWA of the project at the earliest to ameliorate the living conditions of the city." The Bench hopes the government will act quickly to improve Bengaluru's traffic woes and living conditions.