District office complex construction in Mangaluru gets ’go ahead’

Mangalore Today News Network

Mangaluru, Jan 31, 2016:  DK DC  Adoor B Ibrahim said the State government has given administrative approval for the  construction of the district office complex with the National Green Tribunal (NGT) directing the district administration to seek permission from the concerned authorities for axing the trees to go ahead with the project.   The project worth Rs 41 crore at Padil, is on the outskirts of Mangaluru. The Karnataka Housing Corporation has been entrusted with the responsibility of constructing the district office complex, he said.

Tender has already been invited and the proposal has been submitted to the Revenue department for approval. Once the department approves, the work order will be issued, he added. DC Ibrahim said that following the direction from the National Green Tribunal, the district administration filed an application with the DCF on January 28, seeking permission to fell trees on the land where the district office complex would come up.

The district office complex has been planned on the 5.89 acre land belonging to the Karnataka State Forest Industries Corporation. The building will come up on 70 cents land. Forest department officials will conduct a survey on the number of trees to be felled for the construction of the building, said the deputy commissioner. There are 386 trees on 5.89 acre land and all the trees will not be felled for the purpose, he said.

When the residents and environmentalists approached the National Green Tribunal, Chennai, to pass a stay order on the work, the NGT, in its order on September 30, had restrained the administration from felling trees. After hearing the objections filed by the district administration, the NGT withdrew its earlier order and directed the district administration to go ahead with the proposal after obtaining permission from the appropriate authorities for felling the trees. The government had transferred the ownership of the land to the Revenue department.

The petitioners, before the NGT, had said that the land was rich with 478 trees and has been a deemed forest. The deemed forest houses several species of animals and birds. To which, the deputy commissioner said the land has acacia and teak trees. He said shifting of the district office complex to the outskirts of the city will benefit the people.

Ranga Mandira :  The DC said the Ranga Mandira proposal will also get a push with a team from the Central government arriving at Mangaluru to inspect the land and the proposal shortly. The Ranga Mandira was visualised for the city several years ago, but could not be fulfilled owing to various reasons. The district administration had forwarded the proposal to the Centre’s Tagore Cultural Complexes Schemes, which, the district hopes, will foot 60 per cent of the cost of the project estimated at Rs 24 crore.