Old bus stands in Dharwad, Hubli to be shifted in September

Old bus stands in Dharwad, Hubli to be shifted in September
The Hindu

• Bus bays to be constructed in the twin cities
• Night landing facility at Hubli Airport to be ready by September-end
• Feasibility study to be conducted on developing radial road

HUBLI: The old bus stands in Hubli and Dharwad will be shifted to the new bus stand premises and private operators will be prohibited from picking up passengers near the Kittur Chennamma Circle in Hubli in order to ease traffic congestion.

A decision to this effect was taken on Saturday at the meeting of the City Infrastructure Improvement Committee (CIIC), chaired by Gourav Gupta, Deputy Commissioner and chairman of the committee.

The North Western Road Transport Corporation will provide space at its bus stands in the twin cities for private operators to pick up and drop passengers and in return will be collecting due charges from the operators.

While the new arrangement will come into effect from September 1 in Dharwad, the new facility will come into force in Hubli from September 15. In order to ease the traffic congestion, it was also decided to construct bus bays in the twin cities with the help of Hubli-Dharwad Municipal Corporation, the National Highway Authority of India and the Public Works Department.

Speaking to presspersons after the meeting, Mr. Gupta said the night landing facility at the Hubli Airport is likely to become a reality by the end of September as most of the required facilities have been created with a few works remaining.

It was decided to conduct a feasibility study on development of radial road and other connecting roads in the twin cities, Mr. Gupta said.

The CIIC will examine the proposal for constructing railway under bride in Rajnagar-Timber Yard, widening of Gadag Road-Sholapur Road via Gandhiwad.

Consultants have been appointed to submit a report on widening of PB Road-Indi Pump-Unkal Lake Road and Kamaripet PS-BVB College Road, he said.

On the indoor stadium at Dharwad, on which Rs. 30 lakhs has been spent, Mr. Gupta said the officer of the Youth Service Department has been asked to submit a report about the status of the project by the next meeting.

Government clears HDMC dues for purchasing complex for STP

Government clears HDMC dues for purchasing complex for STP
The Hindu

HUBLI: The State Government has cleared the dues of the Hubli-Dharwad Municipal Corporation towards purchase of a commercial complex built by the latter for housing the Software Technology Park in Hubli, bringing the curtains down on the nearly decade-old unsavoury chapter.

The State in an order passed on Thursday sanctioned the payment of Rs. 10.43 crores to the Karnataka Electronics Development Corporation (KEONICS), the State Government undertaking towards clearance of the pending dues to the corporation.

The corporation has been asked to execute the sale deed in favour of KEONICS, which has been entrusted with the responsibility of managing the Software Technology Park and the Corporation has been asked to utilise the money in converting into the double roads, the two roads linking the Software Technology Park with the State highway and the national highway, improve the water distribution network for the STP, improve the footpaths and the lighting system on major roads, develop a separate market complex for the street vendors and establish the local area network and wide area network facilities.

The State Government permitted the KEONICS to purchase the commercial complex being built by the Hubli Dharwad Municipal Corporation on November 8, 1999 at a cost of Rs. 23.10 crores for establishing the STP.

While the KEONICS paid a nominal sum of Rs. 1 crore to conclude the transaction and a loan burden of Rs. 11.57 crores was also transferred from the Corporation to the KEONICS and the payment of the rest of the money became a matter of controversy, with the State Government dragging its feet under one pretext or the other.

The uncertainty over the ownership had its own impact on the development of the STP, which did not go on the expected lines and the KEONICS found itself in hot waters, unable to recover rent from the occupants for want of clear title or conduct any negotiations with others about the development of the STP.

Third phase of demolition drive from Tuesday

Third phase of demolition drive from Tuesday
The Hindu


HUBLI: The third and final phase of clearing roads of encroachments in Hubli-Dharwad Municipal Corporation will start on Tuesday.

The drive will be a three-day operation, covering 31 major roads of Hubli, including the four roads belonging to the Public Works Department and National Highway passing through the city. A public announcement to this effect has been made by P. Manivannan, Commissioner of Hubli-Dharwad Municipal Corporation.

The Corporation has short-listed 71 roads in Hubli-Dharwad, for clearing them of encroachments to decongesting them and ensure smoother flow of traffic. Seven roads were cleared in the first phase for three days from June 25 and the second phase covered all the 33 roads in Dharwad on July 16 and 17.

The corporation officials sent out special teams comprising officials of the city survey for marking the width of the roads and also the extent of encroachment.

The width of the roads have been marked in red on either side and whatever comes beyond that would be cleared, according to the officials.

On the public works roads and the national highways, the roads will be cleared up to the drains on either side. The marking has been done after giving due notice to the people to enable them to produce the records to justify their stand against the removal of encroachment.

Mr. Manivannan said that if the owners of the buildings are willing to cede two feet of their land beyond the 40 feet width of the road, the corporation is willing to construct footpath in that place adjacent to the drains.

In case of grievances, people can contact the Commissioner on ph. 98909-33999, or the Joint Commissioner (98453-30024).

Mr. Manivannan appealed to the owners of the buildings to remove the encroachments on their own.

He said the corporation will use bulldozers to remove the encroachments.

Mr. Manivannan said that a Zonal Officer and an Assistant Engineer of the Zonal Office No. 9 have been kept under suspension in the view of the complaints of delay in granting completion certificates. Another official of the Zonal Office had also been dismissed from service in this connection.

Mr. Manivannan has urged the people to bring to his notice any delay of more than 12 days by zonal offices in issuing completion certificates or delay in furnishing the required information to him or the Joint Commissioner, or the Superintending Engineer (98803-67649) of the CC cell of the Commissioner's office on mobile/SMS/or phone. The people have also been asked to submit a written complaint on all days to Private Secretary to the Commissioner, Kotkar at the Hubli office and Mr Laxmi Narayan at Dharwad office.

High Court keen on new building for circuit Bench in Dharwad

High Court keen on new building for circuit Bench in Dharwad
The Hindu

• Plan includes court building and residential accommodation
• Court building will have two floors with basement parking
• Each floor will have an area of 7600 sq. m
• New complex to be ready for occupation by December 2006

STATELY STRUCTURE: An artist's impression of the proposed building for the circuit Bench of the Karnataka High Court on the WALMI premises near Dharwad.


DHARWAD: It is now clear that the Karnataka High Court is keen that the circuit Bench in Hubli-Dharwad functions from a new building instead of any existing building on the premises of the Water and Land Management Institute (WALMI) here.

It is in this context that the State Government has planned to expedite the construction of a new building of which the foundation stone was laid by the Chief Justice of the Karnataka High Court here on Sunday.

Official sources said the Government would like to expedite work on the building even while prevailing upon the Chief Justice to take steps to get the Bench functioning from the existing building on the premises at the earliest. It was only when the Government finalised plans and prepared a blueprint for the building with the approval of the High Court that the Chief Justice agreed to attend the function to lay the foundation stone.

According to information received here, the Government has prepared a Rs. 66-crore plan for the construction of a new complex on the WALMI premises, 12 km away from Dharwad. The blueprint for the new complex was put on display during the function held on Sunday.

The plan includes the court building and residential accommodation. The court building will have two floors with 10,760 sq. m in the basement for parking vehicles. Each floor will have an area of 7600 sq. m.

It has been planned to build a records room, an office, a property room and rooms for public prosecutors, government pleaders and government advocates, a computer room, post office and an office of the cooperative society. The first floor will have 11 court halls, a library and judges chambers. The second floor will have conference halls, an office, a meeting hall, and offices of Assistant Registrars, Registrar and Registrar-General.

The quarters for judges, Advocate General, Registrar and staff will be on the same premises. The tender process is expected to commence any time. The Government has plans to complete the work in 15 months and expects the new complex to be ready for occupation by next December end.

Preparations being made indicate that the existing buildings on the WALMI premises will not used for the Bench. Minister for Law and Parliamentary Affairs H.K. Patil told the Legislative Assembly in July that the High Court has agreed to use the existing building for administrative purposes.

One of the purposes for which the Government had proposed the WALMI complex for the location of the Bench is the infrastructure available there.

This, it was thought, offered an advantage to Hubli-Dharwad and would minimise the expenditure on providing infrastructure. for the Bench

But the High Court appears to have preferred a new complex for the Bench.