The Hindu : Karnataka / Bangalore News : Kalagrama project bedevilled by delay

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Friday, Oct 10, 2008
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Karnataka

Karnataka - Bangalore

Kalagrama project bedevilled by delay

K.N. Venkatasubba Rao

It was planned to be completed during the Suvarna Karnataka year

The estimated cost of the project is
Rs. 20 crore
20 acres of land was set aside for the project

Bangalore: The Kalagrama project, launched in April 2003 at an estimated cost of Rs. 20 crore and planned to be ready during the Suvarna Karnataka year, is likely to take four more years to get completed.

According to the original plan, the project was to come up on 20 acres of land. But the State has already “sacrificed” 10 acres of this for the Union Government’s National Indira Gandhi Art Centre project and two acres for the regional centre of the National School of Drama.

Despite this, the project can be executed within the allocated funds in another four years if there is no further delay in taking up the work, according to sources in the Government.

The project was announced by Chief Minister S.M. Krishna in his budget speech in 2001 for projecting the pluralist traditions of folk culture and art forms of the State.

The Government wanted to accommodate a museum, a data centre, an art studio and a theatre on the Kalagrama campus.

It had projected that Kalagrama would be a “perfect cultural centre and a complete cultural gallery of the State,” even before it was launched.

The Government took pains to prepare a “futuristic” blueprint of Kalagrama in consultation with experts.

It was expected that on completion, Kalagrama would become a nerve centre for cultural activities in the country, as the Union Government was keen on establishing the National Indira Gandhi Art Centre adjacent to the Kalagrama in association with Bangalore University.

The Government took up works on the administrative block, open-air theatre, and sheds for artists at an estimated cost of Rs. 2.35 crore in the first phase in 2004, with plans to dedicate the Kalagrama on November 1, 2006.

The Directorate of Kannada and Culture entered into an agreement with the Karnataka Janapada Parishat for acquiring three acres of land. It requested Bangalore University to hand over 15 acres of its prime land to the Government for the purpose.

Meanwhile, the N. Dharam Singh government expanded the project by adding the Bhasha Bharati wing.

It also promised additional outlay. The Union Government sanctioned Rs. 5 crore for the project on the understanding that the State Government also provided an equal amount for the project.

Subsequently, owing to the paucity of funds and other reasons, such as delay in completing the tender process, the progress of the project was affected.

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