HUBLI: The Jawaharlal Nehru National Urban Renewal Mission (JNNURM), Kalasa-Banduri Nala Project Implementation Action Committee will take a delegation to New Delhi within a week to meet UPA chairperson Sonia Gandhi, Union Minister for Urban Development Jaipal Reddy and others to urge them to include Hubli-Dharwad under the JNNURM.

Addressing presspersons here on Thursday, committee president Anilkumar Patil said the delegation would also be meeting Union Ministers from the State Oscar Fernandes, Ambarish and M.V. Rajasekharan in this regard.

The delegation would appeal to Ms. Gandhi to include Hubli-Dharwad under the JNNURM. It would also appeal to Mr. Jaipal Reddy to include the twin cities under category `B' of the JNNURM. "As per the recent Census, the twin cities have a population of over 10 lakh.

But under the JNNURM, the Census of 2001 is being considered. Our request is to relax the norms so that the twin cities are included," Mr. Patil said.

Attitude

Mr. Patil took exception to the attitude of the coalition Government especially the Revenue and district-in-charge Minister Jagadish Shettar about the way the issue was being handled.

According to the information he has from the Union Minister of State for Planning M.V. Rajashekharan and other sources, the proposal of Hubli-Dharwad has not been rejected out right. However some leaders were making public statements as if there was no chance of including Hubli-Dharwad, he remarked. Mr. Patil clarified that the committee was a non-political organisation comprising religious heads, engineers, doctors, representatives of various organisations and others.

Seer of Moorusavira Math Sri Gurusiddha Rajayogindra Swamiji was the honorary president.

It was not a Congress-led agitation as there were leaders from other political parties on the committee, he said.

The committee will have no objection if the BJP leaders wanted to take the lead for the development of the twin cities, he said.

Appeal

Some of the members of the committee who were in the press meet appealed to the elected representatives to join the agitation keeping the development of the twin cities in mind. Engineer Kiresur alleged that the political leaders of the region were interested in dragging the feet of the other rather than the development of the twin cities.

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