Building owners will get one last chance

Building owners will get one last chance
TIMES NEWS NETWORK

10 Nov, 2006 0018hrs IST

HUBLI: The Hubli-Dharwad Municipal Corporation is all set to do a Delhi as regards regularising illegal commercial buildings. But before that, it is giving one final chance for building owners to fall in line.

If owners of commercial buildings having built-up area of over 2,000 sqft fail to obtain the completion certificate (CC) or building permission before November 30, the corporation will proceed to take strict action, which will involve eviction of tenants and sealing the building in three phases HDMC commissioner P Manivannan cautioned.

The HDMC has also come out with a series of measures aimed at simplifying the procedures of getting the completion certificate as part of its endeavour to regularise 407 illegal commercial buildings in the twin cities.

In the first phase, Manivannan said the municipal corporation will take up regularisation of about 120 buildings that have already been listed in the HDMC website www.hdmc.gov.in. Occupants or those doing business in major complexes have been asked to log on to the website to ensure whether their building is listed in the website. If it is, then such owners should apply for CC by submitting an application in a prescribed form that is available at the concerned zonal office.

Manivannan said if the HDMC is satisfied that there are no major deviations or violations of building bylaws, it will ensure that one gets the CC within a week. Otherwise, the owners will be liable to pay penalty, he added.

And those who have already submitted applications and awaiting a CC need not panic as the corporation will not take action, provided they produce proof of such application by collecting an extract of the application.

To avail the extract of the application, they should approach the concerned zonal offices and make an application. If such extract is not given within seven days of making application, they can directly lodge their complaint with the commissioner through email (mani300bc@gmail.com).

Where occupants of such buildings have already obtained CC, they still need to produce a photostat copy of the CC before the concerned zonal office for deletion of their name from the list before November 30.

To eliminate any kind of nepotism and discrepancies, Manivannan said they have constituted three task forces headed by the concerned division executive engineers and NGOs.

In case of buildings built without valid building permission, the commissioner said such builders should immediately submit a revised building plan to the office of the deputy director of town planning (HDMC) before November 21.

If the building has been built before 1976, HDMC will not take any action unless it has other reasons, he said adding that owners of such buildings have to declare the details with necessary proof before the concerned zonal office before November 30.

Explaining the significance of such a drive, Manivannan said under Section 310 of the Karnataka Municipal Corporation Act, 1976, occupation of any building without a valid CC from the municipal corporation is illegal and punishable offence. Also, such buildings are liable to be sealed by the Corporation after evicting the occupants.

Such an action is necessary in the interest of citizens as buildings,which are occupied without CC will generally not be certified by HDMC, fire department or electrical inspectorate and hence they are prone to cause problems like traffic bottlenecks, fire tragedies, among other nuisance, he asserted.

Will they, won't they?

Will they, won't they?
TIMES NEWS NETWORK

9 Nov, 2006 0143hrs IST

HUBLI: The Hubli-Dharwad traffic police seem to be tripping on their toes as regards the experiment to ban movement of manganese and iron-ore laden trucks on city roads during daytime. In the last three years, the police
have mooted the ban time and again but failed to put it into practice, thanks to the tactful lobbying of truckers' union.

The latest experiment to impose a ban on movement of heavy trucks between 7 am and 11 pm, which had come in for appreciation, now looks to be meeting the same fate if one goes by the developments at the meeting between Karnataka state lorry owners' association and police on Monday.

Citing the developments at the meeting, association presidents said police commissioner Narayan Nadamani have given a formal assurance to relax the ban except during school hours. The assurance came after the association office-bearers told him that they were ready to withdraw their stir against the ban from November 10.

While top police officials are worried that all efforts made to restrict the entry of heavy trucks during daytime will go in vain if the ban is relaxed, residents are apprehensive that the traffic scenario in Hubli-Dharwad may return to the square one.

They have reason too. When a similar ban on trucks was imposed during the tenure of previous police commissioners, the truckers had managed to bring pressure on them and get the ban relaxed. In fact, the residents here had
wholeheartedly welcomed the move when the ban was imposed as it reduced the traffic load by nearly 30 per cent on city roads.

It was not only the residents, but even policemen in lower ranks, who were weary of regulating traffic, had heaved a sigh of relief. Interestingly, the state truckers' association had once again offered to chip in Rs 1 crore to develop an alternate road between Gadag Road and PB Road.

About six months ago, the association had also promised to contribute to road works after the HDMC passed a resolution seeking a ban on movement of trucks in the city.

Moved by the association's magnanimity, the HDMC had incorporated a plan to develop the alternative road under build-own operate-transfer(BOOT) basis at a cost of Rs 4 crore. But they backtracked at the eleventh hour citing some reasons.

Meanwhile, various organisations in Hubli-Dharwad have threatened to launch an agitation if the police relax the ban. "We are aware that the truckers are trying various means to get the police to relax the ban. We would not tolerate any move by the police to withdraw or relax the ban", said Laxman Korapatti of City Ambedkar Association.

Twin cities lose out on central scheme

Twin cities lose out on central scheme
MANU AIYAPPA -TIMES NEWS NETWORK

9 Nov, 2006 0129hrs IST

HUBLI: The twin cities of Hubli-Dharwad have suffered yet another setback on the development front. The Union urban development ministry has rejected the state government's renewed proposal to include Hubli-Dharwad under the Jawaharlal Nehru National Urban Renewal Mission (JNNURM) stating that it will set a precedence for other states to make similar proposals.

Chief minister H D Kumaraswamy was informed about this when he met Union urban development minister Jaipal
Reddy in New Delhi on Tuesday. The only silver lining: Reddy has agreed to release more funds to the state to compensate for hold-up.

The development has obviously irked residents of the twin cities by and large since they had pinned hopes on AICC chief Sonia Gandhi. Addressing a public rally in Bangalore on September 3 to welcome former deputy chief minister Siddaramaiah into the Congress fold, party president Sonia Gandhi had announced the inclusion of Hubli-Dharwad under
JNNURM describing it as a gift to the people of Karnataka.

"This is really bad news. The politicians are playing with sentiments of people for their political gain. Sonia Gandhi, holding such a responsible position, should have consulted the concerned minister before making
it public", an aggrieved resident Anil M Desai said.

Ruing on the setback, another resident Sunil Pujar sounded a bit caustic, "We, the people of north Karnataka, are used to such setbacks and it's high time we learnt a few lessons. We are doing well without being included in such schemes. Let us all move ahead as a cohesive unit. Let's work together for our cities. It is better we stop relying on our public representatives for the betterment of cities and towns."

Some Non-Resident Indians, who had launched an e-crusade to demand the inclusion of Hubli-Dharwad under JNNURM, were also disappointed. Some natives of Hubli-Dharwad residing overseas had also volunteered to launch a chain of protest by observing day-long fast to express their solidarity, to insist that the Union government include the twin-cities under JNNURM.

"Through our e-movement, we thought we would send a strong signal to the Union government. But it is really unfortunate that it has not happened", rued some NRIs. Their anguish is also made known on a group site. Under the JNNURM, the Centre had first selected Bangalore from Karnataka under the category of metros with 4 millionplus population. It had asked the state government to send proposals regarding heritage and other cities with 5-15 lakh population.

Former chief minister Dharam Singh sent a letter on November 29, 2005, requesting the Union urban ministry to include the twin cities under the scheme. But bowing to political pressure, Dharam Singh again wrote on December 7, 2005, to the Union government urging him to include Hubli-Dharwad and Gulbarga along with Mysore.

This virtually spoiled the show as the guidelines of the mission clearly stated that only one city should be recommended under the 'C' category. Singh overlooked them, and as a result, the steering committee decided to go by the initial list. This attracted widespread protest from various quarters.

As a damage control exercise, Sonia Gandhi, during her visit to Bangalore, assured the people of Karnataka that Hubli-Dharwad would be included under JNNRUM once again, reviving the hopes of residents here.

‘Baro Sadhanakerige Authority’ runs into rough weather

‘Baro Sadhanakerige Authority’ runs into rough weather
The Newindpress.com

Sunday November 5 2006 10:50 IST

DHARWAD: The proposal of the Dr Da Ra Bendre National Trust to form the ‘Baro Sadhanakerige Authority’, is running into rough weather as residents here, have expressed grave concern over the proposal, fearing displacement if the Authority came into existence.

The Bendre Trust had sent a proposal to the State Government, pleading to form the authority with a view to develop Sadhanakeri, the area wherein, poet laureate and Jnanapeeth awardee, Dr Da Ra Bendre resided, as a tourist spot, on the sprawling 25 acres.

On September 12, Minister for Tourism B Sriramulu expressed the government’s readiness to establish an authority to develop Sadhanakeri in response to the memorandum submitted by Bendre Trust chairman, Dr M M Kalburgi.

As per the proposal, the land would be acquired, keeping the Sadhanakeri tank as a central point and developed, as per Dr Bendre’s dreams. The Trust proposed to raise a mini forest and animal park. Besides, laying of tar roads, construction of walls, boating and other amusement facilities, there, were also proposed.

Expressing concern over the proposal, the Sadhanakeri Sarvajanika Sahithyabhimanigala Sangha, urged city MLA and former Minister, S R Morey, to ensure that no resident of the area, would be displaced if the state government acquired the said 25 acres.

The Sangha complained that, so far, neither did the residents of Sadhanakeri, have any information about the availability of 25 acres, nor did the Trust bother to keep them informed.

Da Ra Bendre, under his chairmanship, had started a Kannada medium school and started the Sadhanakeri Vidyabhivrudhi Samithi (SVS), with the intention of imparting education in Kannada.

Stating clearly that no resident would be displaced due to the proposed works, Bendre Trust Chairman M M Kalburgi, in a release issued here, said, ‘‘The Authority would create a cultural environment in and around Sadhanakeri. It was needed for Dharwad, in view of tourism development. Hence, the public should extend their co-operation, despite minor problems.’’