NRIs present a strong case for Hubli-Dharwad

NRIs present a strong case for Hubli-Dharwad

From Sachin Mellegatti DH News Service Hubli:

The issue of excluding Hubli-Dharwad cities from the list of the Jawaharlal Nehru National Urban Renewal Mission is not only being discussed in the State, but is also being debated world wide among the natives of these cities.

The natives of Hubli-Dharwad residing overseas have been making online representation to the President A P J Abdul Kalam, Prime Minister Manmohan Singh, Union Urban Development Minister S Jaipal Reddy and Chief Minister H D Kumaaraswamy, requesting them to include Hubli-Dharwad in the JNNURM Project. They have been feeding their demands through the website: www.petitiononline.com/HDJNNURM/petition.html. Till now, more than 800 non-resident Indians of north Karnataka, have made their representations.

The central government announced the project in December 2005 aiming to provide funds to about 60 cities in the country The Centre has given its green signal to the project in March 2006. The Centre has recognised that the local self governments in cities are politically and financially weak and led to infrastructure bottlenecks and inadequacies. The project seeks to assist the selected cities to improve basic amenities such as drainage, waste disposal, congestion reduction, transportation and water resource management.


“We highly appreciate and respect the recommendations of Chief Minister Kumaaraswamy to include Hubli-Dharwad under the project. We also express our strong concern about the non-commitment of the ministers to this effect. Hubli-Dharwad now stands to lose a whopping Rs 500 crores of development funds over the next seven years,” the NRIs have said in the website.

They have stated that this is yet another case of injustice carried out by the bureaucracy, which seems to have defied the political leadership to favour one city over the other. Successive governments in the state have neglected regions outside Bangalore-Mysore belt.

However, putting in context the neglect and injustice meted out to north Karnataka in general, it is appropriate for the leaders of the region to step up efforts to secure funds for Hubli-Dharwad under JNNURM project.

“We certainly do not wish to turn this issue into a rivalry and ill-will between the cities in the state,” they opine.

Night flights from Hubli to take wings soon

Major thrust on airport facilities boost for North Karnataka

Night flights from Hubli to take wings soon

From Shyam Sundar Vattam DH News Service Hubli:

All seems to be going well for the development of Hubli Airport. The day is not far for the introduction of night flights from Hubli, which is one of the long-pending demands of people of this region.

The airport authorities have already taken up preparation for providing night landing facility at the airport and it is expected to be completed by May 31. Besides, renovation of the lounge and passenger’s arrival and departure section in the airport is at the finishing stage. Once it is completed, it will definitely give a new look to the front elevation of the airport. At present, only smaller aircrafts are being operated on the Bangalore-Hubli-Belgaum route. but, there is a great demand for introduction of additional flights on the Bangalore-Hubli-Mumbai route.

According to sources, Air Deccan is learnt to have agreed to introduce night services from Hubli from June 1, provided the work on night landing facility had been completed by that time. At present, Air Deccan has been operating one smaller aircraft on the Bangalore-Hubli-Belgaum route. Three to four months ago, the Airport Authority of India (AAI) submitted a proposal to the state government seeking allotment of 177 acre additional land for taking up expansion activities. Subsequently, it submitted another proposal to the government wanting 390 acres of land.

The government had asked the principal secretary to find out how much land the AAI required for expansion activities, since it wrote two letters. Once the AAI authorities clarifies this, the district administration would go ahead with its work of acquiring an additional 390 acres on Gokul Road. As of now, the airport was situated on 357 acres and seeking sanction of an additional 390 acres would definitely change the very look of the airport. The AAI had a lot of projects in the pipeline for overall development of the airport for enabling landing and take-off of bigger aircrafts.

Recently, Deputy Chief Minister and Finance Minister B S Yediyurappa directed Dharwad Deputy Commissioner M S Srikar to hasten the process of acquisition of land as sought by the AAI. This clearly indicates the government’s keen interest in the development of this airport.

Investors’ meet

An official told Deccan Herald that such positive steps are required for the growth of north Karnataka region. The government is holding the investors’ meet in Hubli on May 20 with the intention of attracting investment in the IT section in this region.

The captains of reputed IT companies wish to have good air connectivity with both Bangalore and Mumbai from Hubli and all measures being initiated by the government would definitely help to attract IT companies to north Karnataka.

The government had agreed to spend any amount on acquisition of an additional 390 acres and this would help the AAI to take up expansion work at the earliest.