Wednesday, May 21, 2003
Wednesday, May 21, 2003 |
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Karnataka
By Our Special Correspondent
The Minister for Horticulture, M.Shivanna, told presspersons here today that the Cabinet subcommittee was expected to discuss the recommendations of the official committee on the matter before forwarding the proposal to the Cabinet for approval. Meanwhile, efforts would be made to seek funds from the Centre for procurement. Campco was likely to be entrusted with procurement. It had sought the Government's permission to utilise Rs. six crore given to it last year for procurement. According to estimates, Rs. 60 crore was needed for procurement this year although only Rs. 20 crore was spent on this last year. Mr. Shivanna said the Government would have to finalise the subsidy to be paid to growers. The subsidy amount would be shared equally by the Union and State governments. Referring to the comprehensive plan to develop Lalbagh and Cubbon Park in Bangalore, the minister said the authorities had sought Rs. nine crore for the development of Lalbagh alone. The Government proposed to constitute a "Friends of Lalbagh" committee and raise funds for better upkeep of the gardens. Mr. Shivanna said that at present the Lalbagh tank was being cleaned and the work on diverting sewage was in progress. The State Government had sought a Rs. 2.5-crore grant from the Union Environment Ministry for rejuvenating the tank, of which Rs. 1.60 crore was provided. The entry fee had been increased from Rs. two to Rs. five per person and this would fetch considerable revenue to the authorities. A website had been created to raise funds from Bangaloreans who had settled abroad and were interested in the upkeep of Lalbagh. Around 15,000 people visited Lalbagh every day, apart from 10,000 people who walked in the gardens every morning. He said the State Government would like to develop Cubbon Park. Toilets would be constructed immediately. Arrangements would be made to supply drinking water to the visitors. Discussions would be held with the police and the Bangalore Mahanagara Palike to close the gates of the park at night to prevent misuse of the place and littering. "People should cooperate with the authorities in the upkeep of the gardens. They should not throw waste, particularly plastic bags and left-over food." Mr. Shivanna said the old Central Jail premises in Gandhinagar would be converted into a park shortly. His department had assigned the work to the Bangalore Mahanagara Palike since the latter had funds. The cooperation of the Tourism Department had been sought for the development of Nandi Hills and Kemmanagundi in Chikmagalur District. The Tourism Department was expected to provide infrastructure to attract more tourists to the two places. Referring to mango crop this year, the minister said Hopcoms had been directed to open retail mango outlets at various places to prevent middlemen from exploiting farmers. This would be apart from 400 outlets of the Hopcoms in various parts of the State. Compared with four lakh tonnes last year, mango yield this year was estimated at around seven lakh tonnes. Of this, Kolar District accounted for five lakh tonnes and the harvest in Srinivasapura taluk in the district was estimated to be about three lakh tonnes, he said.
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