The State government will promptly release its share of 50 % of the total funds earmarked for the Smart City project in Belagavi, district in-charge Minister Ramesh Jarkiholi said here on Sunday.

He was speaking at the ground-breaking ceremony for the construction of roads under the project. A sum of Rs. 1,000 crore will be spent for the city under various schemes of the project. Half of this will come from the Union government and the rest from the State government. “We will release money in phases and there will be no delays,” he said. The State government is committed to developing Belagavi. “We are very proud of our works taken up in the city,” he said.

He described as far from truth allegations by BJP leader B.S. Yeddyurappa that the Congress government had neglected North Karnataka, especially Belagavi. “This is among his many lies. The BJP will never come to power in Karnataka, leave alone South India. People will see through its false promises and divisive policies,” he said. “I will quit public life if the Congress wins less than 10 of the 18 Assembly seats in Belagavi district,” Mr. Jarkiholi said. He expressed the confidence that the party would win 14 seats in the district. He clarified that there was no discontent among the Jarkiholi clan, and that his brothers Satish Jarkiholi and Lakhan Jarkiholi were getting along well with each other. “We are all together,” he added.

GVMC is now taking up linking 30,000 more households under Atal Mission for Rejuvenation and Urban Transformation (AMRUT).

The project to provide 30,000 UGD connections under AMRUT, partly funded by the Union government, will be taken up at an estimated cost of Rs. 30 crore. The technical and financial bids have been approved and the award of work now awaits the nod of the State-level committee.

Presently of the estimated 4.5 lakh households, about 1 lakh are covered under underground drainage network with the three STPs functioning- the 38 MLD capacity STP in One Town, the 25 MLD STP at Appu Ghar and the 13 MLD Mudasarlova STP. However, their total capacity is not being utilised.

All the new connections will be linked to the 108 MLD Narava Sewage Treatment Plant (STP) constructed under the Jawaharlal Nehru Urban Renewal Mission, sources say. “The Narava STP is presently under trial run and linking the 30,000 UGD connections will make it functional,” Municipal Commissioner M. Hari Narayanan told The Hindu .

The UGD connections have been proposed under the AMRUT, partly sponsored by the Union government, for 2016-17. Manholes, UGD network and STP were completed under the earlier Jawaharlal Nehru National Urban Renewal Mission (JNNURM) scheme spending about Rs. 250 crore. The central part of the city was brought under UGD coverage in the JNNURM.

Several parts of the city including Gajuwaka, Malkapuram, Madhurawada and Pendurti are yet to be brought under UGD network. Under AMRUT, proposals worth Rs. 154 crore have been made for the first year and sanctioned. Apart from providing household connections, water supply distribution providing tap connections is proposed for the first year. GVMC has to foot 47 % of the cost proposed for the project as its population is above 10 lakh. The Union government provides 33.33 per cent and 20 % by the State government.