Dharwad: The Karnatak Vidyavardhakh Sangha (KVVS), which has been a launch pad for various pro-Kannada movements, has supported the demand for a separate municipal corporation for Dharwad and decided to lead an agitation for this.
KVVS members held a meeting on Wednesday and decided to extend their support to the ongoing struggle for the bifurcation of the Hubballi-Dharwad Municipal Corporation (HDMC) for the benefit of Dharwad.
The leaders said Dharwad has always received a raw deal regarding allocation of funds as a result of which the city has been deprived of several facilities.
The KVVS said that Dharwad has not seen any major development since the formation of the HDMC. Even though the city is 20 km from Hubballi, the majority of government projects of both the central and state governments are Hubballi-centric. The roads in Dharwad continue to be in a pathetic condition and 24X7 drinking water to all wards remains a mirage. Only 25% of the city has underground drainage, the KVVS said.
With premier institutes like IIIT and IIT established in Dharwad, the city is expanding and needs better infrastructure. The KVVS clarified that it was not against the development of Hubballi but it wanted equal importance for the development of Dharwad.
Dharwad meets all the parameters to be a separate municipal corporation. Bifurcating the HDMC and forming a separate corporation for Dharwad will fetch funds for development of Dharwad.
State Bar Council member VD Kamaraddi suggested that a people’s movement demanding a separate municipal corporation should be launched on the lines of the one launched for the establishment of high court bench in the region.
Passing the resolution, KVVS working president Basavaprabhu Hosakeri said that as a first step to put pressure on the government, the KVVS and like-minded organisations will organise a silent protest on February 22 in front of the DC’s office and submit a memorandum addressed to the CM.