Hubballi-Dharwad civic body's demand for funds swells over Rs 3k crore

Hubballi: For the Hubballi-Dharwad civic body’s proposal to be included in the draft district development plan to be submitted to the state government, corporators have suggested more than 1,100 works worth Rs 3,332 crore with government funding, with majority of them focusing on the development of road stretches and drainage lines.

As the process of including more works into the proposal is still on, the amount of works to be proposed is expected to be much larger. It is also being lamented that the majority of the works are restricted to small localities, and there is a lack of long-term broader projects which can give a facelift to the twin cities and bring comprehensive development.

In the wake of the government asking the district planning committees headed by district in-charge ministers to submit the draft district development plans to the Karnataka State Decentralisation and Planning Committee, the Hubballi-Dharwad Municipal Corporation (HDMC) is preparing a proposal for works in the twin cities, to submit it to the district urban development cell.

Except for a few suggestions like the flyover for Dharwad, majority of the works suggested by the corporators are the development of road stretches, parks, drainage lines, toilets, community halls and other infrastructure in their wards. As the Hubballi-Dharwad Municipal Corporation officials are instructed to get more suggestions from corporators and to include futuristic plans, the final proposal is expected to be ready in a couple of days.

“As per the government’s decision, development has to be planned from bottom to top democratically. As the twin cities don’t have ward committees, suggestions are received by corporators. Long-term projects will be included in consultation with MLAs, before submitting the proposal,” said HDMC Deputy Commissioner (Development) Vijaykumar R.

Sources in the HDMC said the total demand for funds for all the works to be proposed may go beyond Rs 5,000 crore, as more and bigger works are expected to be added in the proposal.

Admitting that there is a need to propose futuristic works for the development of twin cities, Leader of House in HDMC Iresh Anchatgeri lamented that the officials did not create proper awareness among the corporators regarding the nature of works that could be proposed, and many corporators suggested minor works restricted to their wards as per the demand of their voters.

“I have already suggested a flyover for Dharwad at a cost of around Rs 680 crore, reconstruction of Kalabhavan at Rs 25 crore, reconstruction of super market at Rs 250 crore and development of circles at a cost of Rs 100 crore. Officials have been instructed to include works like having 100% UGD coverage in the twin cities and remodelling of all naalas (storm water drains) with a broader perspective”, he added.

According to senior corporator Tippanna Majjagi, most of the works with restricted scope proposed now indicate a lack of vision, and works like widening of roads keeping the future development in view should also be proposed.