Union Minister for Parliamentary Affairs, Coal and Mines Pralhad Joshi has said that the proposal to set up a regional centre of Lalit Kala Akademi at either Hubballi or Dharwad has received assent and the municipal commissioner has now been asked to identify land for the purpose.
Speaking at the symbolic handing over of medical equipment worth ₹5.5 crore to Karnataka Institute of Medical Sciences (KIMS) in Hubballi on Saturday, Mr. Joshi said that Union Minister of State (Independent charge) of Culture and Tourism Prahlad Singh Patel had approved the proposal.
He had sought a proposal in this regard from the State, which in turn asked the municipal commissioner to identify land and revert to it. The municipal commissioner will soon be suggesting land suitable for the purpose, he said, adding that it would be almost another South Indian centre of the Akademi.
Bhoomi puja
The Union Minister said that the virtual bhoomi puja of the flyover in Hubballi would be done by Union Minister Nitin Gadkari in the first week of January 2021 and the work would be executed adapting the latest technology.
Referring to the need for widening the two-lane bypass road between Hubballi and Dharwad into a six-lane road, considering the heavy traffic, Mr. Joshi said that the contentious issues between Nandi Highway Developers, owned by Ashok Kheny, and the government had been resolved now. “Nandi developers will be allowed to collect toll till the end of the tenure of their earlier agreement, and the plan is to begin widening of the road utilising the land acquired for the purpose. A Detailed Project Report is being prepared, and in the first week of January a high-level meeting involving senior officials of various departments concerned will be held to finalise the project,” he said.
Mr. Joshi referred to the new projects being executed in Nagpur through the initiative taken by Union Minister Nitin Gadkari and asked the Deputy Commissioner of Dharwad to arrange a study tour along with Ministers and elected representatives to see whether those projects could be replicated in the region. Mr. Joshi said he would ask the municipal commissioner to study the charcoal unit project of NTPC to address solid waste management issues in the twin cities.
He said that as the vaccine for COVID-19 was expected to reach India by the end of January 2021, it had been decided to hold a full-fledged parliamentary session in February.
Speaking to presspersons after the function, Mr. Joshi also said that he would comment on the issue of the ‘APMC bandh’ called by APMC merchants only after a thorough look into the issue.
Regarding former Chief Minister Siddaramaiah’s statement that his own partymen were responsible for his defeat in Chamundeshwari constituency, Mr. Joshi said that Mr. Siddaramaiah was defeated as he did not do any work during his tenure as Chief Minister. “His partymen may have been involved, but his defeat was guaranteed. Fortunately, the people of North Karnataka elected him. Otherwise, his political life would have ended,” he said.
