Karnataka to widen Belagavi-Sambra Airport Road, work to begin in August
Belagavi: The Karnataka Public Works Department will begin work in August to widen and improve the road connecting Belagavi city to the airport in Sambra. Minister Satish Jarkiholi, who also oversees the Belagavi district, announced that the ₹72 crore project will cover road widening, four-laning and the removal of traffic bottlenecks.
Of the total cost, ₹17 crore will go toward land acquisition and ₹55 crore toward road work. The 4-kilometre stretch will see a central divider, footpaths and street lighting. Currently, eight of the 13 kilometres on the route have already been four-laned.
The road links Belagavi with Bagalkot and Vijayapura, sees high traffic, especially during the winter session of the Karnataka Assembly and VIP visits. To further ease congestion, the government is also considering widening the Sambra-Suvarna Vidhana Soudha road via Shindholi, Mastamaradi and Halaga villages.
Authorities are also planning for a circular ring road around Suvarna Soudha, Visvesvaraya Technological University (VTU) and the airport. The Minister also said that the government may build a service road along the Pune-Bengaluru highway for better connectivity to Belagavi and nearby villages.
Jarkiholi added that a technical committee is studying the feasibility of a flyover to directly connect the city and the airport.
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Governor’s speech row: CM Siddaramaiah cites “Vartha Bharathi” editorial in assembly
Bengaluru: Karnataka Chief Minister Siddaramaiah on Monday cited an editorial published in the Kannada daily Vartha Bharathi during the Assembly session. The Chief Minister was responding to a debate in the assembly held over the Governor's address to the joint session of both Houses of the State Legislature.
On January 22, Governor Thaawarchand Gehlot declined to read the customary address prepared by the government and made a two-line address before walking out on the first day of the State legislature session, triggering a major political row.
After the House reconvened following the lunch break, Speaker U.T. Khader gave CM Siddaramaiah the opportunity to respond to the debate on the motion of thanks to the Governor’s address. In his reply, the Chief Minister said the Governor left in haste without reading the full speech prepared by the government. He also pointed out that the Governor did not include the phrase “Jai Samvidhana” (Hail Constitution) and did not wait until the completion of the national anthem, stating that such conduct was inappropriate.
Referring to editorials published in various state dailies, the Chief Minister specifically cited Vartha Bharathi’s editorial dated January 23.
He said Governor Gehlot’s conduct during the January 22 session was not in keeping with the dignity of the constitutional office. Qouting the editorial the CM said, “the Governor appeared to act as though decisions and resolutions of the elected government required approval from him or the Central government, undermining the federal structure. Such actions violated the spirit of the Constitution and further fueled the already existing conflict between the Centre and the state."
Is Vartha Bharathi part of the government's cabinet? : V. Sunil Kumar
In the meantime, BJP MLA V. Sunil Kumar intervened the CM and questioned whether Vartha Bharathi was part of the government’s Cabinet.
Siddaramaiah responded saying, “no representatives of the newspaper were associated with the Congress party.”
Supporting the CM's statement and taking a jab at the BJP MLA, Minister Byrathi Suresh added, “None of Vartha Bharati’s representatives are there in our Cabinet. The editor of another newspaper was a member of your (BJP) party.”
