MLA Trimurti keep Dil connected will work for development of Belgaum
4:23 PM Posted by ukmad
Belgaum Cloth Merchants Association had called a special meeting on Tuesday morning to put forth the various difficulties faced by them to the 3 MLA’s of Belgaum. All the three MLA’s Mr.Feroz Sait of North, Sanjay Patil of Rural and Abhay Patil of South were present and all spoke about working together towards the development of Belgaum with no partisan lines in middle. Congress spokesperson Anil Potdar was also present on the occasion.
Belgaum cloth market is about 100 years old and people from surrounding 200 kms come to Belgaum for shopping. Recently the flow of consumers to the city has decreased. Parking is a major cause of concern of the merchants because of which inflow has decreased.
- Mr.Feroz Sait
Feroz Sait MLA Belgaum North said that, parking in the city is a major hindrance and he to avoids coming into the city due to it. He added that master plan should be done. Feroz Sait laid down a new plan for beautification of the Ramdev Galli to Shaniwar Khoot. Nothing concrete was disclosed but he stressed that if the association came up with a plan he was ready to execute it. He also promised to deploy the MLA funds in the business areas of the city. All work under the 650 crore JNNRUM project will be done under consultation with local people he added. Efforts will be made for the execution of the long pending Belgaum Dharwad rail link he said. Flights from Sambra had been closed only as there was no sufficient traffic and the same would commence once there is good potential. In reply to question, he said that he would ask the traffic authorities to see that a 1 meter box is marked in front of all shops which will make it easy for consumers to enter the shop.
- Mr.Sanjay Patil
Sanjay Patil MLA for Rural said that Party lines will not interfere in the development of the city and all the 3 MLAs will collectively deploy the various funds and schemes. We all now should get away from this Marathi Kannada bias and work for the betterment of the city. There are no industries around Belgaum and the Rail and air links are not so good. He asked the merchants not be a frog in the well and come out and diversify into other fields as well.
Anil Potdar from the Congress told the gathering that traffic was the biggest problem and the main cause of this problem is the 70% odd increase of traffic, which makes use of Belgaum as a transit way from Kolhapur to Goa. He suggested a fly over to be built from Hotel Shankam to Peeranwadi, which will solve this problem once for all. The ring road will need Rs.800 odd crores but here the problem was not compensation but acquisition of land he said. A textile park must be built he said. Sulab Souchyalya (toilet blocks) will be built in the main city area he added. He said if master plan is to be undertaken spot compensation should be given.
Abhay Patil MLA South agreed to the BCMA’s demand for a separate land for developing a textile market, which will house 100+ textile shops. The MLA said he is ready to show the association 3 plots that can be given for this purpose. Belgaum is a “Sudharlele Khede” (a developed village) and stated that in the past 50 years nothing has happened here for the development due to the border row. Rs. 1 crore have been allocated for parking related issues and parking facilities will be provided near Deshmukh road on the side roads, he said in reply to a question. Regarding the issues of trade license and harassment from various other govt. offices, he said he would speak to them about the same in the week and get the mater resolved. Talks have already begun with Infosys and Toyota to ask them to establish them in Belgaum.
The meeting was held at Hotel Adarsh Palace and numerous cloth merchants were present at the meet. The Belgaum Cloth Merchants Association is a body of 180 members.
Photos: Team AAB
Belgaum corporation meeting ends abruptly
10:00 AM Posted by ukmad
Opposition members put Mayor in an embarrassing position
People feel sorry at their representatives’ behaviour
Wednesday’s meeting of the Belgaum City Corporation, which witnessed pandemonium on several occasions, was abruptly adjourned as it happened the last time on June 21.
However, the meeting concluded with one of the corporators belonging to the ruling group announcing that the House had passed the day’s agenda without any discussion, leaving the entire Opposition in a state of shock and confusion.
Mayor Prashanta K. Budavi and ruling group members walked out of the Council Hall immediately thereafter.
Opposition leaders Balasab Kakatkar, Kiran Sayanak and Dhanraj Gauli reacted sharply to the “undemocratic” style of functioning and said they were in shock and confused. This is not the way the ruling group should function, Mr. Gauli said.
The meeting took off on a stormy note with the Opposition Marathi group questioning the volte-face by the Mayor on her decision taken at the last meeting that she would not convene a council meeting till the Government transferred Commissioner P.A. Meghannavar.
The Opposition also demanded that the Mayor explain her stand on the issue in view of the ruling group describing the Mayor’s decision as “personal”.
In the last meeting, Ms. Budavi had expressed helplessness over the alleged non-cooperative attitude of Mr. Meghannavar and his interference in the Mayor’s responsibilities by bringing in certain issues on the agenda without her notice and announced that the Government would be requested to transfer him. She had also declared that she would not convene a meeting till Mr. Meghannavar was transferred. Her decision had been recorded in the proceedings of the meeting.
When the ruling benches defended the Mayor saying that the contents in the proceedings were personal and asked the Opposition to ignore the matter and allow the meeting to take up issues confronting the people, the Opposition demanded that the Mayor explain whether she corroborated the views of the ruling group members and put her in an embarrassing position.
However, giving in to the Opposition’s demand and in view of the weak defence put up by the ruling benches in the absence of their group leader Sambhaji Patil, Ms. Budavi announced that she would withdraw her remarks on Mr. Meghannavar and pleaded with the Opposition that they should allow the meeting to take up the matters slated in the agenda.
Yet, the Opposition harped on the same issue even after the Mayor repeated her request five times. And, all the while they said that they were not against the development of the city.
The Opposition members also demanded that the Mayor explain her stand in Marathi. This, despite Ms. Budavi’s repeated submission that she could not speak Marathi though she understood the language.
Even the requests made by two MLAs, Feroz Sait (Congress) and Abhay Kumar Patil (BJP), that linguistic differences should not be brought into picture and that they should concentrate on development issues failed to make any impact on the Opposition members. As the arguments and counter arguments continued in the post-lunch session and what was later clarified to media persons that it was “slip of the tongue” on the part of Ms. Budavi to say that she would speak in Kannada as she was a “Kannadiga Mayor”, the Marathi group wasted no moment in entering the well of the House and staging a dharna in protest against such a “partisan behaviour” of the Mayor.
Left with no way out, the ruling group member, Parshuram Dhage, suddenly flashed a copy of the agenda for the day and declared that all of the issues in it had been passed.
With that the Mayor and the ruling group corporators walked out of the meeting hall, which apparently was a post-lunch strategy to save the situation from turning worse.
However, many in the gallery meant for the public felt sorry at the behaviour of their elected representatives who had no time to discuss the people’s problems and development of the city even when Chief Minister B.S. Yeddyurappa had offered to develop Belgaum into a “model city”.
Those who spoke on behalf of the ruling group included N.B. Nirwani, Rajan Hulbatte, Deepak Waghela and Feroz Darga.
