The Hindu 01.03.2013
Include Belgaum under JNNURM, Centre urged
Suresh C. Angadi, MP, has urged Union Minister for Urban
Development Kamal Nath to include Belgaum for the implementation of the
Jawaharlal Nehru National Urban Renewal Mission (JNNURM).
Mr.
Angadi, who met Mr. Nath in New Delhi on Thursday, told the Minister
that Belgaum was earlier chosen under JNNURM, but later left out.
As the government had decided to extend the mission till March 2014, Belgaum could be considered again, Mr. Angadi said.
He
said Belgaum was growing and gaining in importance after the
construction of the Suvarna Vidhana Soudha. The city was an educational
and industrial hub, with seven engineering colleges, two medical and
three dental colleges, a foundry cluster and large number of automobile
building units. It was connected to Mumbai and Bangalore by national
highways under the Golden Quadrangle, broad-gauge railway lines, and an
airport.
The city had witnessed horizontal expansion,
and the existing infrastructure was inadequate to meet the requirements
of the growing population. Belgaum could grow faster if the Centre
included it under JNNURM, and pumped in the funds, Mr. Angadi added.