Karnataka - Belgaum   

Process to develop Vaccine Institute as a national heritage park begins

Belgaum: In a welcome development, the process for developing the Vaccine Institute into a National Heritage Park has begun with the Belgaum district administration holding its maiden meeting to elicit views of environmental groups and representatives of social organisations under the auspices of Belgaum Urban Development Authority (BUDA) here on Monday.

The move came in the light of the State Government’s decision to drop the idea of establishing the Suvarna Vidhana Soudha on the institute premises (as decided by the previous Janata Dal(S)-Bharatiya Janata Party coalition Government).

The Government has now planned to establish the Vidhana Soudha at a site available in Honga-Bastwad villages on Pune-Bangalore Express Highway and develop the institute into a heritage park so that its ecology is not only protected but also developed.

A gratifying factor was that MLAs from rival political parties made common cause and promised to ensure that the concept took a concrete shape soon.

Those who were present at the meeting were the State unit president of the Janata Dal (U) and MLC M.P. Nadagouda, Feroz Sait, MLA from Belgaum North, and two BJP MLAs, Abhay Kumar Patil (Belgaum South) and Sanjay Patil (Belgaum Rural).

Representatives of various environmental and social organisations, including industrialist and president of the Social Justice Forum Suresh Hundre, secretary V.A. Behere and its public relations officer Bharat G. Shanbhag, rainwater harvesting expert and retired executive engineer Mallikarjun Shetty, Vivek Yalgi of Senior Citizens Forum, Nyla Coehlo of Paryavarni and activist-advocate Neeta Potdar, submitted their proposals. The meeting was coordinated by BUDA’s Executive Engineer I.N. Shedbalkar.

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Some of the major suggestions that came up included stopping of tree felling on the institute premises and removing encroachments.

There were differences over involving consultants for developing the park as many felt that their “bottom line was monetary”. However, there were also suggestions to invite Indian National Trust for Art and Cultural Heritage (INTACH) as it was known for its expertise and quality of work.

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