‘Upgrade district road as State Highway immediately’
The Hindu
Legislator accused of thwarting move to upgrade it on the behest of vested interests
The Udupi Zilla Samajika Mattu Mahiti Hakku Karyakartara Vedike on Monday urged the government to immediately upgrade the Brahmavar-Siddapura major district road (MDR) via Barkur and Bidkalkatte as a State Highway as announced in the 2020 State Budget.
Speaking to reporters in Udupi, vedike president Sadashiva Shetty said that the government should not have rescinded its earlier decision of declaring the road as State Highway in the budget. He said that a legislator was behind this decision of downgrading the road which was taken to protect some vested interests.
The stretch passing through prominent locations in the district witnesses movement of over 10,000 vehicles every day and deserves to be developed as State Highway, he said. Mr. Shetty said that the decision to downgrade the road this year came to light through an RTI application.
The State government on Friday constituted a Special Investigation Team (SIT), headed by Additional Director-General of Police, Manish Kharbikar of the Economic Offences division of the Criminal Investigation Department (CID) to probe the alleged multi-crore scam in the government-run Maharshi Valmiki Scheduled Tribes Development Corporation.
The Deputy Commissioner and the Election Officer for Dakshina Kannada Lok Sabha constituency M. P. Mullai Muhilan said here on Friday that over 600 staff will be involved in the counting of votes cast in the April 26 elections, at the counting centre at the National Institute of Technology – Karnataka, Surathkal, on June 4.