Mangaluru: Mangaluru City Corporation (MCC) Mayor Sudheer Shetty Kannur said that the state government has approved the naming of a 1-km stretch road from Circuit House to Bejai Circle after George Fernandes.
Speaking to mediapersons, he said that the council had approved the proposal on naming the stretch after George Fernandes and the proposal was submitted to the state government for approval. A grand programme will be organised to mark the naming of the road after the election.
The mayor thanked Chief Minister Siddaramaiah and Urban Development Minister Suresh Byrathi for approving the proposal.
He said George Fernandes had made his mark in the trade union movements of 1960s and 1970s in Mumbai and successfully contested Lok Sabha seats from Bihar.
Fernandes was the defence minister in the first NDA government under Atal Bihari Vajpayee as the Prime Minister. He had also served as a Railways minister in 1989 under VP Singh's National Front government.
The mayor said that many including Konkani Lekhakara Sangha convener Richard Moras had demanded the MCC to name a road in the city after George Fernandes and as a corporator he had moved the agenda in the council when Jayanand Anchan was the mayor of Mangaluru.
The mayor said naming of Chokkabettu-Krishnapura-Katipalla-Kana-Katla-Surathkal Road after Capt M V Pranjal, who was martyred during a gunfight with terrorists in Rajouri district in Jammu and Kashmir, is in progress too. The MCC budget for 2024-25 has set aside Rs 30 lakh to develop Flight Lieutenant Ronald Kevin Serrao and Chokkabettu-Surathkal road.
Replying to a query on maintenance of the Narayana Guru Circle, the mayor said that the Mangaluru Urban Development Authority has been charged with maintaining it now. “We have asked the MUDA to issue a NoC for its maintenance by the MCC,” he added.
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