The Dharwad Growth Centre and Industries Association has vehemently opposed the move to allot land meant for industrial township at Mummigatti-Narendra Industrial Estate for other purposes.
Addressing presspersons in Dharwad on Saturday, president of the association S.S. Thite and other office-bearers, including Sanjeev Das, M.D. Patil, Arun Heblikar and K.Y. Gali, said that despite registering opposition to a similar mover earlier and the same being questioned in court of law, the government had again resorted to similar move, which was condemnable. They said they would be forced to launch a agitation if the move was not immediately dropped.
Mr. Thite said that as per the Union government’s guidelines, 241.5 acres along the Dharwad-Belagavi national highway in Mummigatti and Narendra villages was acquired for developing industrial township for the Dharwad Growth Centre in 1994. During 2019-20, the Karnataka Industrial Area Development Board (KIADB) passed a resolution on development residential extension in 11 acres and the work was underway now, he said. He pointed out a decision to allot various plots in the remaining 130.5 acres for other purposes was opposed by the association and seeking cancellation of the same, a writ petition had been filed in the High Court of Karnataka. “However KIADB has now allotted three plots to three parties namely the Rashtrotthana Parishat, Prakalpa Hotel, and Prakalpa Hospital, in clear violation of the guidelines. The association strongly opposes the allotment and will approach the court against it,” he said.
Injustice to workers
He said that the KIADB officials and senior officials of the department had meted out injustice to the industrialists and workers by allotting the land meant for them to others. “Residential facilities are required for nearly 10,000 industrialists and workers and 241.5 acres will not be sufficient to meet the requirement,” he said.
The other-office bearers said they would demand KIADB and the State government utilise the land only for the purpose for which the land was acquired from the farmers. To a query they said after development of the residential layout, the land earmarked for civic amenities could be allotted for schools, hospitals and hotels.
