BELGAUM: The State Government will approach the Centre for special grants to develop Belgaum city and district, Chief Minister H.D. Kumaraswamy said here on Sunday. He promised to clear proposals worth Rs. 266 crore pertaining to various schemes and projects in phases.

However, he said the Government would have to look into financial constraints before taking any decision on the proposals and demands coming from different districts. But, there should not be any apprehension about the Government's commitment to start a medical college in the city from the academic year 2006-07. "The college in Belgaum will be the first to be started by our Government."

Airport work

He told presspersons at Honnur, 45 km from here, on Sunday that the Government would release Rs. 6 crore for the acquisition of land to upgrade the airport at Sambra near here. All works at the airport would be completed by the end of December.

Deputy Chief Minister B.S. Yediyurappa, Social Welfare Minister Balchandra Jarkiholi, Deputy Chairman of the Legislative Council Sachidanand Khot and other dignitaries accompanied the Chief Minister.

The Education Department had been asked to provide details about the lack of classrooms and shortage of teachers in all government Kannada-medium schools in the district within 10 days, he said. Also, the authorities concerned had been asked to provide houses within two months to all families which lost their houses in the floods last year.

The Government would look into the demand to improve the Belgaum-Goa road via Jamboti up to Chorla, he said. The work would be taken up at an estimated cost of Rs. 50 crore through the Karnataka State Road Development Corporation at the earliest.

Mr. Kumaraswamy promised to sanction work to desilt the Bellary Nala on the Belgaum city-Airport road and expedite work on setting up a software technology park and a textile park in the city.

Rath yatra

To a question, Mr. Kumaraswamy said he failed to understand why KPCC president M. Mallikarjun Kharge was worried over the rath yatra led by BJP leader L.K. Advani entering the State.

He said the BJP had been taking out such yatras as part of its strategy to strengthen the party.

Inquiry

The Chief Minister said he was aware of the ongoing inquiry into the irregularities and misappropriation of funds released for taking up relief works in the flood-affected areas in the district. The Government would not spare anybody found guilty, he said.

When his attention was drawn to the fact that many of the staff of Visvesvaraya Technological University were contract employees, Mr. Kumaraswamy said he would ask the university to submit a report in this regard.

On reports of Goa-based sponge iron firms dumping their waste in forests areas in the State, he said he would look into the matter.

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