Vijayanagara district, which was recently formed as the 31st district of the State by carving out six districts from Ballari, will officially be inaugurated at a grand Vijayanagara Utsav in Hospete, the headquarters of the new district, on Saturday on the occasion of Gandhi Jayanti.
Addressing a press conference in Hospete on Thursday, Ecology, Environment, and Tourism Minister B.S. Anand Singh said that Chief Minister Basavaraj Bommai will inaugurate the new district at 6 p.m. on Saturday in the presence of former Chief Minister B.S. Yediyurappa.
Apart from a host of people’s representatives from Ballari and Vijayanagara districts, seers of various mutts who had joined Mr. Singh and played a key role in the formation of the new district would grace the occasion. The inauguration programme will be held at the district stadium.
As per information provided by Mr. Singh, holy flames (jyothi) from all the taluks would be brought to the district headquarters and joined near Dhwaja Katte in front of Shyanabhoga Circle in the morning.
A cultural procession will begin from Wadakaraya Temple at 4 p.m. and march through Ratha Beedi to reach the district stadium at 5.30 p.m.
As many as 80 cultural troupes from the State and outside will participate in the march.
Mr. Singh added that many of the artists will portray the glory of the Vijayanagara empire.
After paying tribute to Mahatma Gandhi and Lal Bahadur Shastri, Mr. Bommai would inaugurate the new district by issuing orders related to the establishment of the district and offices for its functioning.
The Chief Minister was scheduled to lay foundation stones to various development works and inaugurate the completed ones on the occasion. As per the information, 24 completed works included a four-lane bypass road connecting Hampi Road and Ballari Road constructed at a cost of ₹11 crore, a 60-bed mother and child hospital built at a cost of ₹11 crore, the development works at Joladarashi Gudda undertaken a cost of ₹10 crore, a road between Hampi to Papinayakanahalli via Kamalapur developed at a cost of ₹10 crore, a Morarji Residential School building built at a cost of ₹9 crore, a road between Venkatapur and Pampa Vidyapeeth developed at a cost of ₹8.25 crore.
The 55 works that Mr. Bommai would lay foundation stones for include the development of the stretch between HCL Canal and Ingalagi Cross on Hospete-Ballari Road at a cost of ₹30 crore, development of a four-lane road between Ananthashayana Temple in Hospete and Kamalapur at a cost of ₹30 crore, construction of a 250-bed hospital at Hospete at a cost of ₹105 crore, a railway over-bridge near Ananthashayana Temple in Hospete at a cost of ₹26 crore and buildings girls hostel, pre-university college for girls and municipal school for girls.
Special officer for Vijayanagara district Anirudh Sravan was present.
