The Hindu 03.09.2013
Tumkur, Shimoga and Bijapur to be upgraded as corporations
The State government has decided to upgrade city municipal councils of Tumkur, Shimoga and Bijapur as corporations, Minister for Urban Development Vinay Kumar Sorake has said.
“Though the Bharatiya Janata Party government upgraded the Tumkur CMC as a corporation, the Karnataka High Court quashed the order in April 2011 on the grounds that the population is less than three lakh as per Census 2001. The government decided to upgrade these CMCs based on the Census 2011 figures.
“The population of Tumkur city has now crossed three lakhs. The court also directed the government to consider the Census figures,” he told presspersons on Monday.
As per Section 3 of the Karnataka Municipal Corporations Act 1976, the population of the area to be declared as a corporation should not be less than three lakh.
Mr. Sorake said during the transition phase of Jawaharlal Nehru Urban Renewal Mission, 61 projects worth Rs. 5,265.22 crore were approved by the State-level sanctioning committee and forwarded to the Ministry of Urban Development.
Seventeen water supply projects with an estimated cost of Rs 711.92 crore were approved and submitted to the Union government under Urban Infrastructure Development Scheme for Small and Medium Towns, the Minister said.
