HUBLI: Revenue Minister Jagadish Shettar, who is also in charge of the district, has termed the cancellation of the Hubli-Dharwad Municipal Corporation (HDMC) resolution on reduction of the water tariff as a "work of the officials", which, he says, was done without his knowledge.

In an informal chat with presspersons here on Saturday, Mr. Shettar said that he wanted to first find out what had led to the cancellation of the corporation's resolution before he made any statement on the matter.

He said he had already sought details from the HDMC and Karnataka Urban Water Supply and Drainage Board (KUWSDB) on the issue and would take it up with top officials after getting the information.

He said he would also take up the issue with the Chief Minister in order to ensure that the common people were not put to hardship.

Mr. Shettar said he was in favour of exempting residents of areas adjacent to Hubli Airport, whose buildings would be acquired for its expansion, from the payment of stamp duty. The Government had done so in the case of the displaced people at Bagalkot after they purchased other land, he said.

The Government would soon take a decision on whether or not to exempt the people living near the Hubli Airport from payment of stamp duty, he added.

With regard to the land acquisition, he said the Deputy Commissioner had been authorised to monitor the whole process, including the fixing of compensation, which he would be doing in consultation with the Karnataka Industrial Area Development Board (KIADB). This was in order to prevent middleman from taking advantage of the situation by duping gullible residents on the pretext of getting them more compensation, he said.

On the development of information technology in Hubli-Dharwad, Mr. Shettar said that Tata Consultancy Services (TCS) had sought 100 acres of land between the twin cities for the purpose, and this was being looked into. KIADB already had some land, which would be considered for this, he said. He said the work on Hubli-Dharwad One was going on, and at least one or two centres would be functional by the end of June.

He ruled out any possibility of Commissioner of HDMC P. Manivannan being transferred in the coming months, and also clarified that there was no pressure on the Government to transfer him.

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