JOIN USAnother land scam surfaces in Dharwad
Call it political high-handedness or people’s ignorance, the Karnataka Industrial Areas Development Board (KIADB) has kept people in the dark over land deals.
Recently, the KIADB was in the news for allotting land worth crores of rupees to a non-existing educational trust in the Belur Industrial Area on the outskirts of Dharwad City.
Now, the KIADB has allegedly sold land to yet another educational institute which had never applied for the land.
Nearly, three acres, which was reserved for the industries under the Kaigarika Udyog Mitra Scheme, has been denotified and given to a research institute. The news has angered residents and industrialists in the twin cities who had applied for KIADB land.
As per the documents available with the Deccan Herald, the KIADB had acquired nearly 230 acre of land 30 years ago.
However, nearly three acres of the land has been sanctioned to a Hubli-based education trust, the Channabasaveshwar Research and Training Institute, that too much before the society was registered. Moreover, this land, worth a couple of crores now, has been allotted for a petty sum of Rs 18 lakh.
The KIADB has allotted plot number 193-P at Kelgeri village in Dharwad district to this institute. The land was allotted on August 13, 2009, while the institute was registered on August 16, 2010.
The State-level Single Window Clearance Committee sanctioned this land to the trust, and the KIADB handed it over.
According to reliable sources, the trust is run by a personal secretary of Large and Medium Industries Minister Murugesh Nirani.
The land was allotted to the institute during Nirani’s term as the district in-charge minister of Dharwad.
Though there was a huge demand from the industrialist to hand over the land to them to set up their plant, the KIADB has overlooked their demand.