The Hindu 04.09.2013
Rs. 100 crore to spruce up city
Sorake says the fund is the third instalment of State government grant
Minister for Urban Development Vinay Kumar Sorake said here on Tuesday that the government will give special grant of Rs. 100 crore to Mangalore City Corporation for infrastructure development.
He told presspersons after a visit to the corporation that the government has released Rs. 15 crore to the civic body from the second instalment of Rs. 100 crore sanctioned by the previous government. Of that Rs. 50 crore would be released as loan and the remaining amount as grant. The government would sanction another Rs. 100 crore as the third instalment.
He said that the government was yet to finalise whether this should be sanctioned in the grant-cum-loan pattern or as a full grant. The Minister said that other city corporations in the State would also get the third instalment of special grant.
The Minister said that he had asked the Commissioner of the corporation to send a proposal on Greater Mangalore to his ministry within a fortnight. The urban local bodies of Mulky and Ullal have already passed resolutions giving their consent to become part of Greater Mangalore. Bajpe and Gurupur areas would also be brought under the Greater Mangalore.
Ajith Kumar Hegde S, Commissioner of the corporation, said that Moodushedde Gram Panchayat, under whose jurisdiction Pilikula Nisargadhama and Pilikula Biological Park are housed, has also passed a resolution to become part of Greater Mangalore.
To a question the Minister said the government has not dropped the plan of getting water to the city from Lakhya dam in Kudremukh through existing pipeline of Kudremukh Iron Ore Company Ltd. “The water can be supplied to industries even if we don’t use it for drinking,” he said.
Mr. Sorake said a Rs. 10,000-crore proposal had been sent to the Union government for infrastructure development in urban local bodies in the State.
Mr. Soarke said the government was awaiting a report from the Cabinet sub-committee on demolishing the illegal buildings in Mangalore.
“A Cabinet sub-committee is studying this issue,” he said.
