The Dakshina Kannada district administration has begun the process of acquiring 156 acres of land required for expansion of runway of the Mangalore Airport, said Deputy Commissioner N.S. Channappa Gowda.
Extending the runway from the present 8,000-odd metres by about 1,000 metres has been a pre-requisite for according the international tag . After the last year's air crash the Civil Aviation Ministry had announced plans to extend table top runway and accord international status to it.
Mr. Gowda told presspersons on Thursday that tahsildar would be asked to do a valuation of the land and submit a report. Based on this report, a proposal would be forwarded to the State Infrastructure Department, Mr. Gowda said.
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Action was taken to acquire Dakkan Park, a private property that comes on the exit road of the Mangalore airport. About Rs. 5 crore had been set apart for this purpose, he said.
Mr. Gowda said six mobile squads were being formed to stop illegal transport of sand to Kerala. The mobile squads would check movement of lorries at random points throughout night once every two days and seize sand along with the vehicle. This action would be followed by reports to the Deputy Director (Mines and Geology), the tahsildars of Mangalore and Bantwal, and to the local police station. A direction in his regard had been issued on June 1, he said.
Mr. Gowda said so far he had not come across any instance of extraction of sand from rivers coming under the Coastal Regulatory Zone.
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He said a five-member committee headed by Regional Director (Environment) had been formed to look into complaints alleging violation of CRZ regulations. Asked about the rejection by the Mangalore Special Economic Zone project displaced families of final package offered by State Government on Tuesday, Mr. Gowda said he would wait for few more days for the response before taking legal action.
Since Monday the project displaced family members have been protesting on the MSEZ corridor road demanding employment for their children.
Mr. Gowda said the Mangalore Urban Development Authority would call tender for conducting a preliminary survey for the Mangala Corniche outer ring road. The Mangalore City Corporation would bear the estimated cost of Rs. 2 crore for the preliminary survey, he said.
Mr. Gowda said the State government had paid Rs. 50,000 to each of the 208 persons disabled because of endosulfan.
He said Rs. 25,000 was given to the Srikshetra Dharmastala Rural Development Project for building a day-care centre.
Mr. Gowda said the District Sub Jail in the city would be moved to Chelur in Bantwal taluk.
The district administration had acquired 59 acres of land of the required 150 acres land necessary for construction of the sub jail in Bantwal. He said a proper solid waste disposal mechanism would be put in place in the district by the end of this year.