Ready to join others to form panchayat boards: Bengal BJP
Kolkata, Aug 26 : West Bengal's BJP unit on Sunday said the party was ready to join hands with other political outfits in the state at the grass roots level to stop the Trinamool Congress (TMC) from forming gram panchayat boards.
Accusing the TMC of intimidating their winning candidates in the state rural body elections, state Bharatiya Janata Party President Dilip Ghosh said the BJP has decided to work together with other state opposition parties to form boards in all the hung panchayat boards.
"The BJP will form the panchayat boards wherever we have the majority. Even in most of the hung bodies, the panchayat boards are being formed with our support. We have decided to join hands with rest of the political parties if necessary, to keep Trinamool away from power," Ghosh told the media here.
"The Trinamool is trying to intimidate our winning candidates in several places to make them switch to their party. Police and local administration is not taking any action against the miscreants. But the common people who have voted for us, do not want Trinamool to form the panchayat boards."
TMC had swept the rural body elections in May by winning more than 20,000 gram panchayat seats while the BJP emerged as a distant second with close to 6,000 seats.
The saffron outfit, however, managed to perform well in two western districts -- Purulia and Jhargram.
Ghosh claimed that his party will be able to form at least 300 panchayat boards in its own capacity.
"The BJP will form close to 300 panchayat boards, based on its own calibre. At least 100 other boards can be formed with our support elsewhere in the state," he added.
Let the Truth be known. If you read VB and like VB, please be a VB Supporter and Help us deliver the Truth to one and all.
Karnataka govt formulating civil aviation policy: Minister Patil
Bengaluru (PTI): Karnataka Infrastructure Development Minister M B Patil on Friday said that the state government is formulating a civil aviation policy of its own, covering various aspects of the sector.
He also said that a meeting of public representatives from Ballari, Vijayanagara and Koppal districts will be held soon under Chief Minister Siddaramaiah's chairmanship, regarding the airport in the region, as he stressed that both feasibility and viability should be considered while determining the location for airports.
The minister was replying to a question about Ballari airport, raised by Gangavathi MLA G Janardhana Reddy in the Legislative Assembly.
"We build airports, but after three years they get shut down. The situation is not only in our state, but it is across the country. We don't know the future of district airports. So I met the Union Civil Aviation Minister along with the Chief Minister with a request that the UDAN scheme be extended from three years to five years, and that for the subsequent five years the Centre and the state should jointly support operations in a 50:50 ratio," Patil said.
"The issue is there across the country and they (Centre) are also thinking on these lines...We are also bringing a policy on civil aviation from the Infrastructure Development Department (IDD). Two other states have done it --Madhya Pradesh and Uttar Pradesh. That policy will have things like state's share, bulk amount sought by international airlines, among other things," he said, adding that work is on regarding this policy.
Noting that the proposed Ballari airport should benefit not only Ballari district but also the people of Koppal and Vijayanagara districts, the minister said in this regard, a meeting of public representatives from the three districts will soon be convened under the chairmanship of the chief minister to deliberate on the merits and challenges of the project.
There is little use if an airport becomes inactive after construction. "Keeping this in mind, the Karnataka Industrial Areas Development Board (KIADB) has identified two new sites in Ballari district measuring about 800 acres and 1,200 acres for the proposed airport," he said.
If the airport were to be constructed at the previously identified site in Ballari, it would require the construction of an eight-lane greenfield highway and involve several other issues, the minister said.
"Land acquisition and compensation alone would cost nearly as much as the airport project itself. Therefore, that option is not practically feasible. The matter will ultimately be finalised at the meeting to be held under the chairmanship of the CM," he added.
Stating that airports must be planned with foresight, otherwise, the same mistakes seen in Hubballi, Belagavi and Vijayapura would be repeated, Patil pointed out that the distance between Belagavi and Hubballi airports is only about 70 km.
"If an airport had been constructed at a location between the two districts to serve both regions, it might have been declared an international airport based on passenger traffic," he said.
A similar mistake has been made in Vijayapura as well. "The airport that is now ready for inauguration has been constructed on the Kalaburagi road. If it had been located towards Almatti instead, it would have benefited places such as Badami, Aihole, Pattadakal and Bagalkote, all of which have tourist attractions," he said.
Highlighting that airports located in district and divisional headquarters across the country are facing challenges, the minister said Bidar and Kalaburagi airports are also experiencing difficulties.
"At present, Bidar airport is functioning with the support of the Kalyana Karnataka Region Development Board (KKRDB). There has also been a demand to resume operations at Kalaburagi airport, and steps will be taken in that direction," he added.
