Yediyurappa directs to shift some govt offices to Belagavi
Bengaluru, June 3 (IANS) Karnataka Chief Minister B.S. Yediyurappa on Wednesday directed officials to shift some offices to Belagavi in the north-western part of the state.
“Identify state-level government offices in Bengaluru within a month and take necessary action to shift these offices to Suvarna Vidhana Soudha in Belagavi,” said Yediyurappa in a statement.
He directed the officials do so at a review meeting of the public works, ports and inland water transport departments.
The aim of shifting offices is to address the regional imbalance.
Suvarna Vidhana Soudha is a building modelled after the state Vidhan Soudha in Bengaluru where the legislature meetings are conducted once a year, to send across a message that Belagavi is an integral part of the southern state as there are claims on Belagavi from Maharashtra.
Yediyurappa said he would visit Suvarna Soudha shortly to inspect it.
Belagavi is 508 km northwest of Bengaluru.
Meanwhile, he asked repair works of roads and bridges damaged in the floods to be completed on priority.
Official informed the Chief Minister that flood relief works have been taken up at a cost of Rs 500 crore, including the completion of 1,700 road repair works out of 1,800 sanctioned works.
Likewise, 1,650 km of village roads have been earmarked to be upgraded as district roads and another 10,110 km district roads as state highways.
The Chief Minister has also directed officials to make use of soil from lakes, ponds and riverbeds for road works.
Karnataka will also take up 4,813 national highway works at a cost of Rs 30,675 crore.
Yediyurappa has instructed to employ jobless engineers as trainees in the department as appointment process has been delayed.
Similarly, he also directed to hasten Shimoga airport construction in Sogane village in a year’s time, ensuring good quality of work.
He asked the officials to review the identification of land for airport construction in Vijayapura.
A technical committee has been formed to study the rate card of different engineering departments to bring out a uniform rate for the state.
Public Works Department Minister Govind Karjol said the study report will be submitted soon to enable the government to save money.
–IANS
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