Pramod Madhwaraj, MLA, said recently that the Urban Development Ministry has allocated Rs. 90 crore for underground drainage and water supply in Udupi city under the Karnataka Urban Development and Coastal Environment Management Project (KUDCEMP).
He was speaking after inaugurating the four-lane road from Gundibail to Ambagilu (along with LED street lamps) constructed at a cost of Rs. 4.69 crore under the second phase of Nagarothana-II project, here.
Mr. Madhwaraj said that of the Rs. 90 crore, Rs. 55 crore was meant for underground drainage system, while Rs. 35 crore was for improving water supply in the city. Since Udupi city had utilised all funds under Nagarothana-I and Nagarothana-II, the State government would soon be providing Rs. 30 crore under the Nagarothana-III project.
The bus terminuses in Udupi, Manipal and Malpe in the city would be modernised. Already the survey work for modernising these bus terminuses had been completed.
The city was expected to get 30 low-floored buses under the Jawaharlal Nehru Urban Renewal Mission (JNNURM) project.
A bus stand for these low-floored buses would be constructed at the Old DDPI office near the City Bus Stand. There were complaints that the city bus service in Udupi, managed by the private sector, was not available at all places. The JNNURM buses would run in those places. These buses will serve the people along with the private city buses.
Udupi did not have a Karnataka Road Transport Corporation (KSRTC) Bus Stand. Hence, the government had allocated Rs. 17 crore for the construction of a KSRTC Bus Stand in the city.
The process of getting land for this KSRTC Bus Stand from Public Works Department (PWD) was on. Once the land was handed over by the PWD to the KSRTC, the construction would be started immediately.
The State government was expected to release long-pending Rs. 7.5 crore announced by the previous Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP) government.
This amount was announced during the Platinum Jubilee celebrations of the Udupi City Municipal Council (CMC) in 2010, but was never released.
The release of this amount would also help in undertaking more developmental works such as construction of new building of Board High School, Malpe-Padukere bridge and Traffic Police Complex, Mr. Madhwaraj said.
P. Yuvaraj, CMC President, welcomed the gathering. D. Manjunathayya, CMC Commissioner, delivered the introductory remarks.
Amrita Krishnamurthy, CMC Vice President, Celine Karkada, Vijay Manchi and Ramesh Poojary, municipal councillors, Janardhan Tonse, Chairman of Udupi Urban Development Authority, were present.
