Wockhardt plans unit in Hubli

Wockhardt plans unit in Hubli
Business Standard Reporter-Chennai

Hubli November 28, 2006
(photo:wockhardtin.com)

The Wockhardt group plans to set up its branch in Hubli next year. According to Jayaranganath, the Wolkhardt group had set up super speciality units in different cities in the country.

He said the Wolkhardt Hospital, situated on Banneraghatta road in Bangalore, would conduct heart operations on poor children free of cost.

The hospital had launched a scheme to help the poor children suffering from heart ailment.

He said normally a cardiac surgery would cost Rs 90,000 and the hospital would do it free of cost on the poor children. For the economically weaker section, it would charge only Rs 20,000, he said. The state and the Central governments would subsidise the remaining amount.

He appealed to the parents of the children suffering from heart ailment not to panic and asked them to contact the children’s unit at Wockhardt.

Jayaranganath revealed that eight children among every 1,000 had heart-related problems and two of them had severe ailment.

K`taka to upgrade Hubli airport to international standards

K`taka to upgrade Hubli airport to international standards
Business Standard Reporter-Chennai

Hubli November 27, 2006

The Karnataka government proposes to develop Hubli airport as an international airport in a phased manner. It has decided to provide 650 acres of land for the purpose.

Parliament member from Dharwad North constituency, Prahlad Joshi, who has evinced keen interest in developing the airport told Business Standard on Sunday that the decision to allot the land was taken at a meeting chaired by infrastructure development minister B Sriramulu and attended by revenue minister Jagadeesh Shettar, who is the minister in-charge of Dharwad district.

Joshi said the 440 acres of land was required to upgrade the airport to the national level and the government would be required to pay a compensation of Rs 120 crore to acquire the land. It would have to pay another Rs 20 crore to acquire another 210 acres as it was agricultural land.

Allaying fears of the citizens in the vicinity of Gokul road, where the airport is situated, that their houses would be demolished, Joshi said that there was no truth in the rumour.

Only 110 houses, which had already been identified, would be demolished and the owners would be compensated suitably, he said.

The work on widening and extending the runway, taken up at a cost of Rs 15 crore, would be completed in a year. It would enable night landing of aircraft and also increase the capacity. This will enable 72-seater aircraft to land and take off.

Simmering dissent over water project

Simmering dissent over water project
TIMES NEWS NETWORK - M L Kapur

27 Nov, 2006 2327hrs IST

HUBLI: The 24x7 drinking water supply demonstration project in select wards of Hubli and Dharwad is facing opposition from residents of the target areas even as it is nearing completion.

While some NGOs have raised objections on why it is being taken up in areas already covered by municipal water supply network, ignoring the uncovered areas, others oppose its implementation by an MNC.

But the strongest opposition to the project comes from slum areas of Wards 7, 8, 9 and 10 in Dharwad where residents are apprehensive that their water bill will shoot up manifold once it becomes operational by March next.

A meeting with the residents of these wards, held last Sunday by HDMC commissioner P Manivannan to clear their doubts, turned unruly and had to be cancelled in the face of determined opposition to the project. It will now be held next Sunday.

Similarly, at a meeting of representatives of NGOs and resident welfare associations (RWAs) called here last Saturday, Hubli Citizens’ Forum president D M Shanbag wanted to know if India lacked the expertise to implement such a project.

Shanbag was critical of the very concept of implementing it in affluent wards of Hubli which were already getting twice a week water supply even while more than half the city was not covered by the municipal water supply system.

He asked: “What is the fun in duplicating supply in some selected areas without first covering the entire city? The builder-operator has not invested a single penny, so why give it any commission on water tariff collection? Will it not be an additional burden on consumers?”

According to some experts, the selection of wards under the project was not done on scientific basis taking into account the willingness and paying capacity of the people covered.

“It was done on political considerations,” they said. They pointed out that “when the wards to be covered under the project were being identified, the then mayor favoured his ward and adjoining areas in Hubli, while the then leader of opposition in the HDMC council went for her ward and the adjoining areas.”

Another area of concern for consumers is the high cost of getting connection under 24x7 scheme and uncertainty over the water tariff structure. The NGOs engaged in the project were expected to convince the target population about its benefits, but they failed on this count.