Bengaluru: Chief Minister Siddaramaiah said the state government would recommend three places, namely, Dharwad, Raichur and Mysuru, to the Centre for setting up Indian Institute of Technology (IIT) in Karnataka.

The chief minister, who was on a tour of north Karnataka told reporters here on Saturday that he was including Raichur in the list of cities for setting up IIT as it was a backward district. He added he would not press for Mysuru as a venue for IIT.

Sources said the chief minister had to include Raichur in the list of cities recommended for setting up IIT under political compulsion. Leader of the Opposition in the Lok Sabha Mallikarjun Kharge had led a delegation to the chief minister to press for Raichur or Gulbarga, considered backward districts in the Hyderabad-Karnataka region. Not wanting to antagonise senior leader Kharge at a juncture when there is clamour for a dalit chief minister, Siddaramaiah, who decided to play it safe, is said to have decided not to press for his home district but instead bat for Raichur.

Bengaluru, Hasan, Shivamogga and Belagavi have also stated their claim to host IIT but are unlikely to be recommended by the state government.

Several organisations presented memorandum to the chief minister in Dharwad on Sunday demanding the IIT to be set up at Dharwad.

Why Dharwad?
Karnataka Chamber of Commerce and Industry, academicians, politicians, social activists, student organisations and others have been mounting pressure on the Centre to establish the much sought after IIT near Dharwad on the Dharwad-Belagavi road. It was the then Union Human Resources Development Minister S R Bommai who had moved the proposal to the Centre to establish IIT in Dharwad in 1990s.

The demand had first come from Dharwad, a hub of education. Successive governments in the state had been putting pressure on the Union government to establish IIT in Karnataka but there had been no response from the Centre.

After NDA government came to power, BJP leaders from the state led by former chief minister Jagadish Shettar, state BJP president and MP Prahlad Joshi and others met the Union Human Resources Development minister Smriti Irani and Prime Minister Narendra Modi and urged them to fulfill the demand at the earliest. In a memorandum submitted to the HRD minister and Prime Minister, the Karnataka delegation had highlighted the importance of establishing IIT in Dharwad and had managed to elicit a positive response from the duo.

Hubballi-Dharwad West MLA Arvind Bellad said the finance minister's announcement was a result of pressure from BJP leaders from Karnataka. He said the case of Dharwad as the location for IIT has been made to the HRD minister and Prime Minister. "We have already identified 500 acres of land belonging to KIADB near Mummigatti between Dharwad and Belagavi. More land is available if needed. Since Dharwad is also the growth centre for industries, it will be ideal to set up IIT here. Salubrious climate, connectivity, infrastructure and educational environment are all favourable for establishing the IIT. This will also address the problem of correcting the regional imbalance. Bengaluru already has IIM and IISc and is already overcrowded," Arvind said.

The people in North Karnataka, cutting across age barrier, are using social media, especially Facebook, to mobilise support for IIT in Dharwad region. The pressure is already mounting on elected representatives to fight for the cause. Those demanding for a separate statehood for North Karnataka have also joined hands.

Mysuru:  “Forest officials need not recover the three acres of forest land encroached by the public for their livelihood”, said Ramanath Rai Minister for Forest, Environment and Ecology on Friday February 20.

He was addressing media persons at the review meeting with the Forest officials of Mysuru region. Addressing the officers he said that The High Court has ordered not to clear the 3 acres of Forest land, that had minor encroachments.

But the families which have encroached more than 10 acres of land must be cleared by initiating drives to conserve forest land. The identification of deemed forest areas in the region has been completed and it is at the approval stage. Around 170 acres has been recognized in the region, while District Administration must consider C and D groups before declaring the area as deemed forest area.

Vinay Luthra,  Chief Conservator of Forest said, “The lands that are encroached before 1978 and the lands approved after 1980 have not been denotified by the officers. Moreover the government is now planning to  denotify them.”

In Mysuru region,  a total of 1823 families have encroached 222.73138 acres and among this 506. 48 acres of land encroached by 41 families have been recovered. Basic facilities are a must and the Forest officials should make sure that they provide sanitation and sufficient water facilities in the respective forest areas.

Mysuru: Baroda bowled out Karnataka for 302 and secured a 33 runs lead on the third day. They then stretched it to 237 at close of play.

Arvind raised the hopes of an early closure to their second innings when he got  Saurabh Wakaskar for zero in the very first ball of the innings and a little later Kedar Devdhar too for zero.

Aditya Waghmode, Hardik Pandya, Deepak Hooda, Yusuf Pathan batted well to defend and increase their lead but again Arvind and Karun Nair managed to take wickets of set batsmen.

Mysuru: Civic authorities in India are known for their laxity and this causes any amount of hardship to the public. Protests and petitions often fall on deaf years. Out of the box thinking, perhaps is the only way to get the civic authorities to respond. Badal Narayanswamy the artist, has done exactly that.

He noticed the open hole in front of the Government Press Club near the Kukkarahalli Lake and converted it and its surroundings into a tortoise, and painted "DANGER" on the unused drainage pipe kept nearby. While the public is appreciating his art, he has also sent a stiff message to the civic officials to address this defect.

Badal Nanjundaswamy said, “I daily walk from my home (Kukkarahalli) to Rangayana. It’s been a month and no authority has addressed it. Now it is time for my art to convey the message to the authorities. This is my fourth art in the city which is used to fix the civic problems.”

He said that the drainage water flows at a fast pace here and there are chances of collapse.

Nanjundaswamy has done similar work on two occasions in Bengaluru, and his work had made the civic authorities sit up, take notice and remedy the lacunae.

Mysuru: A tunnel, said to be connected to the Mysuru Palace, was discovered yesterday near Vishwamanava Park on Nanjangud Road in city during the ongoing drainage works on Wednesday Januray  22.

It is reported that while a JCB was digging the cross road connecting the Nanjangud road near Vishwamanava Park during the ongoing developmental works of the big drain that comes through Subbararayakere, the workers found the tunnel, which was about 5 ft. deep, constructed using bricks & lime mortar and covered with stone slabs. When the workers removed the stone slabs they found that the tunnel was 3 ft. wide and 4 ft. in height.

Curious onlookers who had gathered at the spot were heard speaking that the tunnel was connected to the Palace. Workers at the spot said that there was another pit which was about 15 ft. deep about seven feet away from the discovered tunnel. The workers added that the tunnel was  3 ft. wide and 4 ft. in height and was about 5 ft. deep made with bricks and lime mortar and used stone slabs to cover.

Meanwhile, MCC Ward 1 Corporator B.V. Manjunath said that the tunnel was discovered yesterday during the ongoing drainage works in his ward and added that earlier two pits were discovered near the Gun House which was assumed as the entrance to the tunnel but now a tunnel which connects the Palace has been discovered.

He further said that one end of the tunnel is near Shankar Mutt and the other end seems to connect the Palace and added that the secret of the tunnel would be known only after a probe by the concerned department and officials.

It is also learnt that during the King’s rule, tunnels were dug on all four directions from the Palace for the Kings to escape during times of war.

It may be recalled that earlier, when two pits about 15 ft. deep with steps were discovered near the Gun House, officers of the Archaeology Department who inspected the pits, said that these pits were manholes.

Gavi Siddaiah of Archaeology Department, T.S. Subramanya, Deputy Director of Palace Board and Ravi, Palace Engineer visited the place where the tunnel found.