Demolition drive passes off peacefully

Demolition drive passes off peacefully
The Hindu

LAST-DITCH EFFORTS: A man salvaging whatever he can after a portion of his bookshop was demolished in Hubli on Thursday. (Right) A woman searching for her belongings amidst the debris of her shop.


HUBLI: The demolition of encroachments by the Hubli-Dharwad Municipal Corporation entered the second day on Thursday with several encroachments in Hubli city being razed to the ground.

The focus on the penultimate day of the operations was on the stretch from Durgadbail to the Bhandiwad mosque in the sensitive Shah Bazaar area, which has many encroachments on either side of the road, and the city bus terminus close by.

Barring old buildings, none of the buildings that have come up on the roadside remained out of the purview of demolition. The rampant encroachments were evident from the fact that at one time, six earth-moving machines were at work on the road tackling encroachments on either side of the road simultaneously. It took more than two hours to cover the two-furlong Shah Bazaar.

The corporation authorities found that drains on either side of the road ran zigzag depending on the encroachments. It appeared that the owners of the buildings had changed the path of the drains. While the demolition squad did find the original drains at some places, there was no sign of them at other places.

The operation at the terminus as well as Shah Bazaar evoked a lot of interest among people. Many bystanders as well as owners of the buildings had assembled at the two places. The police had a tough time keeping the people at bay.

At one time, it looked as though the crowd was getting restive, and the police had to disperse people to defuse the situation. A woman corporator of the Congress tried in vain to intervene on behalf of some shopkeepers.

Sigh of relief

The police with whom she argued asked her to raise the issue with the Commissioner of the corporation. Everybody heaved a sigh of relief when the operation ended peaceful.

The entire area was strewn with debris waiting to be lifted by the demolition crew.

Commissioner of the corporation P. Manivanann, who supervised the operation along with Commissioner of Police Narayan Nadumani, said the first task of the corporation after the demolition drive is over is to build footpaths. The corporation will also take action against complexes which have violated rules, he warned.

Memorial to Bendre in Dharwad in a shambles

Memorial to Bendre in Dharwad in a shambles
The Hindu

DHARWAD: The prestigious Bendre Bhavan, a national memorial erected in memory of the doyen of Kannada poetry and Jnanpith Award winner Da. Ra. Bendre, has been turned into a godown for dumping books that the Department of Kannada and Culture has not been able to sell.

The bhavan, a magnificent edifice constructed at a cost of Rs. 70 lakhs on land donated by the poet's family, is adjacent to the poet's family home in the Sadhanakeri area here.

It overlooks a lake and was conceived as an important centre of learning for students of Kannada literature.

However, the indifference of the Department of Kannada and Culture and the failure of the Government to provide for recurring expenditure have resulted in the structure remaining uncared for.

The Department of Kannada and Culture was using the premises to house the office of the Assistant Director of Kannada and Culture despite a resolution passed by the National Memorial Trust Committee barring the use of the building to house government offices.

Emotional

The former Minister of Kannada and Culture H. Vishwanath, during whose term the project was conceived, became emotional when he paid a visit to the bhavan on Tuesday evening. He could not disguise his anguish over the bureaucratic callousness in the maintenance of the building.

What shocked Mr. Vishwanath initially was the parking of department vehicles in the portico, blocking the magnificent view that the edifice presents to visitors.

"The sight of a government vehicle outside such a place is unimaginable," Mr. Vishwanath said.

More surprises were in store for the former Minister as he went round the complex. The meeting hall at the ground floor looked unkempt with plastic chairs used for functions stacked on one side.

The first floor, which was supposed to have a library of the works of the poet, had been converted into the office of the Assistant Director of the Department of Kannada and Culture and for dumping books of the department.

The showcase held very few books on Bendre and was stacked with publications of the department and other academies marketed by the department.

No new additions

The exhibition hall on the second floor was in a pathetic state. Nothing new has been added after the trust committee's collection of rare photographs of Bendre was put up in the early days of the bhavan.

One of the rooms, which should have exhibited books on scientific works by Bendre, remains empty while a room that should have been a replica of the poet's study is now covered with cobwebs.

The failure of the Government to maintain the building prompted the Bendre family to refuse to part with over 17,000 volumes of the poet's personal collection of books.

Instead, the family chose to house them in the Bendre Research Institute which has been set up in Hubli.

Grants returned

The trust committee has not been able to use the amount of Rs. 5 lakhs given by the Union Ministry of Human Resource Development when S.R. Bommai was the Union Minister.

The trust also had to return the donation given by Krishak Bharati Cooperative Ltd. as it failed to comply with certain stipulations.

Mr. Vishwanath was informed by officials who were present that the Government has not been giving any grants for the upkeep of the memorial and that the fellowship and award given in the name of poet are being given using funds generated internally and contributed by members of the poet's family and admirers.

Speaking with this correspondent Mr. Vishwanath said: "This is a shocking state of affairs. I shall certainly take it up with the Chief Minister."

Demolition drive: third phase begins in Hubli-Dharwad

Demolition drive: third phase begins in Hubli-Dharwad
The Hindu


SELF-HELP IS THE BEST HELP: Shopkeepers helping a person to climb on to the roof of a shop to clear encroachment before the arrival of earthmovers of the Hubli-Dharwad Municipal Corporation in Hubli on Wednesday.


HUBLI: The third phase of the demolition drive against encroachments on roads in Hubli began on Wednesday. The three-day drive will tackle over 40 roads.

What was remarkable was the absence of the "stunning effect" which the earlier phases of the drive had given to the people.

The people on either side of the identified roads had been told before hand about the extent of encroachment and had been requested to clear it on their own.

As a result, even as the earthmovers in 10 batches trundled along the roads, building owners removed the encroachments themselves. Others had emptied the premises marked for demolition.

The corporation was acting on a carefully worked out plan and the squads and the police had been given a detailed map of the area to be tackled.

HESCOM, BSNL help


Personnel of the Hubli Electricity Supply Company and the Bharat Sanchar Nigam Limited were on hand to disconnect power and telephone lines in the area slated for demolition.

There was an appreciable increase in the number of policemen on duty. This was attributed to reports that some Congress corporators might try to create trouble. But these reports turned out to be baseless.

After encroachments were removed on the Pune-Bangalore National Highway, Narayan Nadumani, Commissioner of Police, Hubli-Dharwad, said the police had decided to introduce two-way traffic on a stretch of the road.

P. Manivannan, corporation Commissioner, said discrepancies, if any, in documents pertaining to property could be settled later and that the corporation would make good any loss to house owners.

In Gardenpet, a few miscreants tried to create disturbance by throwing stones at the police. The mob was immediately dispersed and the situation was brought under control.

II phase of anti-encroachment drive from Wednesday

II phase of anti-encroachment drive from Wednesday
(Newindpress.com)

HUBLI: The Hubli-Dharwad Municipal Corporation will launch 3-day II phase anti-encroachment drive here from August 24.

The drive supposed to begin two days ago, did not take place following the appeal by the police department to postpone it for two days.

During the drive encroached portion of the property will be demolished on Neelingan road, Coin road, Anchatgeri oni, Ganesh peth, Kamaripeth, Unkal cross, Sainagar, Bhavaninagar railway under bridge, Nrupatunga betta, Murusavirmath to Bankapur chowk, KEB office to Bankapur chowk, New English school to Old Hubli durgad bail, K C circle to old Hubli, Girani chawl to Basava Van, Vidyanagar, Shah Bazar, Gavaligalli, CBT to Mantur road, Anandnagar to Manjunath nagar, Shantinagar to Gopankoppa, Shantinagar to Club road, Karwar road, Hosur APMC yard and otehr surrounding areas.

Large number of encroached buildings were brought down during the first phase of anti-encroachment drive in Hubli and Dharwad.

Encouraged by the overwhelming response to the first phase, Corporation is all set to start its second phase, which will be completed on Aug 26. Corporation is expected to use JCB machines in all most all areas, which had not been touched during the first phase to bring down the encroached buildings.

Since the drive will be launched in sensitive areas like Kamaripeth, Ganesh pet, Shah Bazar and other areas, the police have stepped up security to prevent any untoward incidents.

Before launching the drive, the corporation had given 10 days time to the people to vacate their encroached property by marking on their own.

The encroached property of the people, who have not paid heed to the warnings of the corporation, would be demolished without any hesitation. said corporation officers.

However, in many of the areas people themselves vacated the encroached property.