Talking at the meet-the-press at the Hassan District Journalists’ Association on Thursday, he said there is tremendous scope for tourism in the district. The monuments in Belur and Halebeedu are protected, but the surroundings are not clean.
Jagadish said, “Apart from historical monuments, other aspects of the district like forts, lakes, and the mountain ranges in Sakaleshpur should attract tourists. The tourists should be served with the native food of the district instead of cosmopolitan food. Presentation of the art forms of the district should be organised once in a week.”
He said: “The local people should be part of the development activities. They should be benefitted by it. Modern concrete building around monuments spoil the archeological beauty of historical places. So the government should give design that are in line with the monuments to those who propose to construct buildings. If the government provides some subsidy, there would not be any resistance.”
A committee has been constituted to establish the science centre for which the state government has already sanctioned ` 1.3 crore.
The Centre was also supposed to sanction a matching fund. But, in the wake of change in policies, the funds have to be locally mobilised, the deputy commissioner said.
Stating that there was huge scope for development of industries in the district, he said many people who have availed land for industries have left them vacant till date.
Even the Hassan Special Economic Zone (SEZ) has not seen any progress. Instead of inviting industrialist from outside, local people should be trained to start industries. As over 70 per cent of activities in the district depend on agriculture, there is a need to solve the problems of farmers by providing them with information on new technological innovations in the field, he added.
