Special meeting on Forest department in May first week: CM Bommai

Shivamogga, April 20: A special meeting with the people’s representatives, Advocate General and officials would be convened in the first week of May to address the legal issues related to the Forest department, Chief Minister Basavaraj Bommai said.

Addressing a media conference in Shivamogga he said, the problems related to Malnad and semi-Malnad regions comprising Shivamogga, Chikkamagaluru, Dakshina Kannada, Uttara Kannada, Udupi, Kodagu districts need a clarity. A few legal changes are needed. A few issues need the approval of the Union government. Efforts would be made to get the clearances from the Supreme Court and the Union government.

There are two important projects in Shivamogga–the airport project and Smart City Project. “I am inspecting both the projects today. Administrative approval has been granted for comprehensive development of Jog falls. Shivamogga would be developed into an international tourist destination,” Bommai said.

Industrialisation of Shivamogga

Industrialisation of Shivamogga would get a special focus. It has huge potential to draw investments under the Beyond Bengaluru programme. A special drive would be launched in this regard. A vigorous effort would be made at the Tech Summit to be held in Bengaluru next month to convince the IT BT majors participating in the event to consider Shivamogga as a destination under the Beyond Bengaluru programme. Efforts would be made to bring IT companies here by utilising the land reserved for the IT sector in Shivamoggai, Bommai said.

The budget programmes are being implemented in a time bound manner. Work orders have already been issued for about 75% of the budget programmes and the remaining would be issued before the end of this month, he said.

Excluding rural areas from Land Grab Prohibition Courts

Replying to a question about problems being faced by farmers in connection with implementation of Karnataka Land Grab Prohibition Act, Bommai said, “it has come to our notice. The State government will soon take a decision to restrict the jurisdiction of the Act to just Bengaluru and other Metropolitan cities, exclude rural areas and small towns from the jurisdiction of the special courts set up under the Act.”

The Chief Minister expressed his happiness on the resource mobilisation front as the Commercial Taxes collection has exceeded the target by Rs11,000 cr. It is a record. A total of Rs15,000 cr has been mobilised above the target in the State, he said.

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